Eleventh Heaven
by The 21st Century Pendragon
Summary: This is a spiritual successor to "Sympathy No. 11". Witness the Loud sisters battle with Lincoln on a tragedy they cannot stop: losing their brother.
1. Chapter 1

It is 6:00 PM, and it is another night for the Secret Secrets Club to meet again. They decide to gather in Luna and Luan's room as the other convenient room, next to Lori and Leni's. All the members seem to be there, down to their latest member Lola. Lori is the last to arrive in the room. There, she sees Lola, Lynn and Leni pillow-fighting, Luna strumming her electric guitar, Lucy reciting a song for her, Luan and Lana flipping a book, and Lisa teaching Lily how to play the xylophone.

Lori arrives, somehow stunned from something. "Luna, has Lincoln arrived?" she asks her rocker sister.

"Haven't seen him in a while, dude," Luna replies. "Anything wrong?"

"Nothing. It's just earlier the other day, he told that he 'loves me'," Lori intimately shares.

"Why? What's wrong with that?"

"I literally supposed to only here that from my boyfriend."

"Relax, that's just Lincoln being Lincoln. Why bother?"

"After what happened last week?"

 _Flashback_

Lincoln is at laundry duty to wash the family's identical shirts (with their names printed in the front) to be used for a sports fair. The shirts are hard-earned by the siblings. So it is a huge responsibility to take care of them.

The 11-year-old sets their shirts for rinsing for 8 minutes but he leaves it for around two hours, as he gets occupied playing an online role-playing game. Realizing his mistake, Lincoln runs back to the laundry, takes them out of the water, places them to the dryer and sets it to the topmost heat process.

Lincoln then shares his thoughts to the readers, "Phew. Glad I pulled them out of the water in time. Well things couldn't get any worse from here."

Just as he shares, the heating process ended, and Lincoln checks at their shirts to discover, at his utmost shock, that their shirts shrunk. "AHH! Ohh no!"

Conveniently, or inconveniently, his sisters hear his scream and race downstairs.

"Lincoln, what's going on?" Leni asks.

Seeing them, Lincoln instantly shuts the dryer door and hides their shrunken shirt behind him, "Nothing. Just finishing up cleaning our shirts," Lincoln nervously answers.

"Are you literally taking good care of our shirts?" Lori queries with a serious tone.

"Uh-huh. Absolutely. 100% all taken care off," he assures shakingly.

Lola then spots a shirt by the floor. "Hey, isn't that shirt has my name on it?" she says, as she walks to retrieve it. She then notices a sudden change. "Wait, how come it became too small for me?"

As Lincoln stutters, the dryer door suddenly opens and the sisters pick up their designated shirts.

"Wait, why mine became smaller?" Lynn wonders.

"Mine's got heat broiled on it," Lucy observes.

"Wait guys! Our shirts shrunk!" Luna notes.

After that, all the sisters confront Lincoln about this. "LINCOLN!" they scold.

Lincoln nervously tries to appease them, to no avail, "Uhmm guys, just relax. I didn't mean to…"

And that situation has went with a fight cloud, with Lincoln as the only victim.

 _End of Flashback_

Lori finds this as a moral issue since she never thought that despite their silent treatment towards him, he is still cool with them. Though it is normal to resolve things in a gradual flow of time, Lori would never expect him to say "I love you" to her.

"Sis, like I said, it's Lincoln being Lincoln. He makes mistakes, but he really cares about us," Luna emphasizes.

"Yeah…" Lori spouts with hesitance. She then decides to commence the meeting. "Luna, sound the alarm. Let's start."

"You got it, sis," Luna responds with one loud guitar rift, catching the rest of the Loud sisters' attention.

"Okay, do I get everybody's ears?" Lori announces, making the sisters' answer in hubbubs. "Okay good," she continues, "I have a question: is it weird for Lincoln to say 'I love you' to me?"

Again, the sisters' answer in hubbubs. However, Lynn raises her thoughts, "Only boyfriend/girlfriend get to say 'I love you'. Or parents. Or grandparents."

Lola decides to raise a similar concern, "I think Lincoln said the same thing to us."

 _Flashback_

Before entering his room, Lincoln encounters Lana and Lola play hungry hungry hippos. Lana gets the upper hand, but Lola is rather impressed with her play. He walks near to them and expresses, "Hey, Lana and Lola, my two lovely younger siblings."

"Hey Linc!" they both exclaim.

"I just want to let you guys know that I love you both."

"Okay…?" Lana responds bewilderingly. "Lincoln, is there something going on?" Lola asks.

"Nothing going on. I just wanna express my love to you guys," Lincoln elaborates, walking to his room with a smile on his face but leaving the twins at frozen unease. But Lana shrugs it off right away.

 _End of Flashback_

"I didn't find it all that weird because I didn't understand what he meant," Lana elaborates as she chows down popcorn, making Lola slap her own face.

"Dude, this shouldn't be a problem for all of us," Luna emphasizes, "It shouldn't be a problem for you."

However, Lori brushes this off, "I have no problem of saying 'I love you'."

"Oh yeah?" Luan tests Lori, "Why don't you say that to any of us? Or to Leni."

Gulping from Luan's dare, Lori approaches Leni and tries to utter those three words, "Leni, I love…your dress. Yes. I love your sunglasses. I love your earrings. I love your skin complexion. I love your…zit."

"Zit! Zit! Where's the zit? Where's the zit?" Leni panics as she grabs a mirror.

"You mean where is zit? Hehehe. Get it?" Luan jokes, making the other sisters groan.

As Leni panics, Luna calms her down. "Relax Leni, there's no zit."

Leni looks at the mirror to double check. "Oh, what a relief."

However, the discussion goes back to Lori. Lola argues, "Seriously Lori, you wouldn't admit that you love your sister?"

But Lori counter-argues, "Well, why don't you do the same to Lana?"

"Yeah Lola! We dare you!" Lynn initiates.

"Okay fine!" Lola reluctantly agrees with temper, making her march to Lana. "Lana, you already know what I need you to hear. So, hope you would understand it with a good heart."

This leaves Lana speechless to reply something. "Uhmm okay…" Lana replies.

"That's all you can do?!" Lynn complains.

"Well, it would have been better if it weren't for Lucy sharing a creepy story yesterday!" Lola complains.

"Why would you blame me? I just did what you told me to do: tell you an interesting story that you can share to your friends," Lucy defends. "Besides, that is something I need to get relief after I was dragged to that horrendous gig with Luan."

"Hey, I told you that it is laugh-freely gig. Not a laugh-free gig. Hehehe," Luan defends.

"See what I mean?" Lucy reiterates, making Lynn laugh at her. "That includes you, Lynn."

"What did I do?" Lynn asks.

"You knocked over my poem anthology books with your soccer ball," Lucy says.

"Well, that could not have happened if Lana kicked the ball in a proper way," Lynn complains, taking a blame on her sister.

"Why me?" Lana rebukes.

"I taught you the proper way to maintain the ball on air," Lynn points out.

"Well, sorry that I wasn't able to perfect it," Lana justifies, "If weren't for Luan poking fun at me."

"I wasn't poking fun at you, I was motivating you," Luan defends.

"Oh yeah? What do you mean by 'you'll not Messi this one'?" she complains.

"Oh, come on that was supposed to be a keeper. Hehehe. Get it?" the jokester sister defends laughably.

"Well, it's a soccer pun. Hahaha. Get it?" Lana jokes sarcastically.

"Luna was the one who suggest that," Luan stresses.

"Luan!" Luna protests for Luan's potent blaming.

"Well, it's true, my punny sister. Hehehe."

"Well, you can take your jokes to Lisa in the sky with diametric," Luna raises her concern, while deliberately dragging Lisa in the mess.

"Why do you have to force me into your denunciation?" Lisa interrogates.

"You keep on telling me to be serious about my studies, while you are secretly playing flash games!" the rocker sister brings it up.

"I have my defense. Information overload is a major stressor for mental concentration. So, I need to conduct a menial activity to relax my mind," the child prodigy points out.

"Well, it doesn't justify you playing a Pokemon Go rip-off for six hours, while I'm grueling in physics!"

"You can blame it on Leni for suggesting that game to me," Lisa points out.

"Yeah, you can blame it on Leni for suggesting that game to Luna," Leni agrees absent-mindedly. "Wait?"

"Heh, just like I easily deduced, my fine scatterbrained kin," Lisa says while poking fun at her sister.

"Wait, you are the one who gave us that game?" Lana asks complainingly.

"Yeah…" Leni confirms.

"That game caused a virus in our phones!" Lynn agrees alongside.

"How come? Mine keeps on blinking on and off?" the 16-year-old stresses.

"It only means it's not working!" Lola berates.

"And indeed, we found the culprit of our troubles. It only means one thing: that each of us is a scorn. May our souls face the charges," Lucy says.

And at that, all Loud sisters, except for Lily, beat each other, forming a fight cloud. In all expense, they let loose all their frustrations with each other, whether those frustrations are unnecessary or not.

"Hey Luan, I thought we're through this!" Lynn grumbles.

"Well, you threw us into this mess. Hehe. Get it?" Luan jokes in an out-of-place manner, prompting Lynn to beat her, again.

In the midst of their squabble, Lori's phone rings. Lily tries to point it out. And after moments of ringing does Lori manage to pick up her phone and answer it.

"Hello, not know Bobby, I have a situation with my sisters," Lori answers. But it was not Bobby who answered. Lori moves away from her sisters fighting to get a clear reception. "Yes…Uhmm…Mhmmm…" She takes time to listen to the caller, telling her something crucial, making her feelings slowly shift from anger to apprehension. The caller is actually a doctor, who told Lori of the terrible news.

"Guys, guys!" Lori tries to call the attention of her sisters, to no avail, "GUYS!"

At that last call, the siblings stop fighting.

Lori announces the crucial news, "Lincoln's at the hospital. He got into an accident. We need to go!"

In such immediacy, the Loud sisters head to the van and drive to the hospital. There is no speech among them. They are just occupied in the prospect that their brother is in life-or-death situation. Each sister is at shock of such revelation. It is really outstanding that they transition from quarreling about tacky concern among each other to being concerned about their brother's safety. No one can predict the intensity of the situation; they just want to see their brother safe.

As they arrive at the hospital, the Loud sisters rush to the emergency room, where they timely witness their brother being hurriedly delivered to the operating room. It is a drastic happening to glance on their brother, extremely unrecognizable from his head injury. They try to follow him to the OR, but they are stopped by a couple of nurses. Their force is too strong that they can only catch glimpses of horror that will encompass them. A perfect way to say, a matter of life and death.

The sisters, still in utter shock, are then designated to a waiting room with each facing their own anxieties. Lori is wrapping her chest in fear. Leni is trying to patch up the happenings surrounding her. Luna wraps her face in grief. Luan embraces Lana in an effort to comfort each other. Lynn leans her face on Lucy's shoulder, while Lucy is hiding her grief strongly. Lola starts flowing tears from her face. And Lisa holds Lily firmly close to her.

"Can I hold your hand?" Leni abruptly asks Lori, "I don't want to feel alone."

And without a question, but a gesture of love in the midst of trouble, Lori takes Leni's hand firmly. In just a silent gesture, the eldest sister feels the affirmation that they can be strong as a family.

With that, she reaches her hand to Lola, making the latter hold her hand without uttering a word. Seeing this, Lynn follows, alongside Lucy.

"Come on guys. Let's come together, for Lincoln," Lori persuades her sisters, prompting them to follow suit. Lisa holds Leni's hand, while she holds Lily's at her right. Lana takes Lily's hand while holding Luan at her right. Luan, meanwhile, grasps Luna's left hand, while Luna takes Lucy's hand, closing the circle. And there, they take a moment of solemnity.

To herself, Lori utters these words, "Mmmm to the One above, we are not a praying family. We admit. But Lincoln's all yours. Make him strong. Make us strong."

From there, it is going to be a huge hurdle for not just the sisters, but for Lincoln.


	2. Chapter 2

The soul of Lincoln is unnerved. But his spirit is unyielding.

As his eyes open, Lincoln finds himself on his bed in a dark, abysmal space. Everything is void around. Nothing but a dark, void space. The only things he sees are his bed and a door. At fear in himself, the innocent boy gets out of his bed and enters beyond the door. There, he sees a chamber full of shelves, but the lights are flickering. He wishes to go back, but the darkness start to swallow the bed. Scared, Lincoln turns to the chamber, making the door shut by itself. Thankfully, an emergency flashlight is set near where the fire extinguisher is. With no other path to take, Lincoln walks along the eerie chamber.

There, he begins to feel the unsettling aura of such a dark chamber. The lights flicker every minute. The temperature shifts from moist cold to humid. The height of the chamber gets higher and higher. And the silence gets unnerving when frightening images are imposed on Lincoln, due to his growing fear.

As Lincoln walks unnervingly, he points his flashlight to the shelves' contents, catching his interest. He observes that the first shelves he passed are filled with crystal balls that flash basic information from science to current events. His fear diminishes when he gets amazed upon glancing at those balls as they project moving images in them.

However, the fear returns as Lincoln passes through a next series of shelves that are damaged. He observes the light flickering haphazardly. He also notices the floors cracked and filled with debris. But most notably, he sees some of the crystal balls broken, fissured or shattered. He tries to prevent stepping on them. But suddenly, one crystal ball falls from a low-lying height and rolls to Lincoln's leg. The boy decides to check it out to see it covered in scratches and cracks. But he sees something more unnerving from the images. He sees an image of him and his sisters playing hide-and-seek, being projected on the ball. Soon, he discovers that the damaged crystal balls are actually projecting important memories for Lincoln. What worsens his fears is as he picks up one crystal ball, he sees it flash a particular moment when Lincoln gives a picture frame of his sisters being themselves as a present for his parents in their anniversary, and his sisters thanking him for being considerate. However, the crystal ball disintegrates before his eyes. Now, he realizes that such a concrete metaphor shall happen to him.

Suddenly, a smooth yet intimidating voice utters, "That was a good memory. That time when you gave the perfect picture to your parents, and said to your sisters 'the perfect you'."

Lincoln tries to find where the voice came from, but he sees no one in , the voice continues to speak, "All of those you see are perfect memories. But you let them get shattered. And for what? To save the life of a poor girl who thinks her life isn't worth it. Do you think so?!"

"I know so because every life is worthy," Lincoln defends in confidence but with fear lodged in his head.

"Oh is that so?" the voice replies back. Then, Lincoln recognizes the voice coming from behind him. It is then revealed that it came from a manifestation of himself but with an adult voice. The demoralizing Lincoln then continues to rebuke Lincoln, "Then why did you sacrificed yourself for her? Your life is full of meaning than her! You mean more to other people than her!"

"That's not true! I may not know Audrey, but she means more than I know," Lincoln replies out of conviction.

"If that shall be your words, then let them shall be your doom. You never do realize the repercussions of your decision. You turn your back on your own life to save a life that's not yours. You get what you give! Now let your loved ones see that the boy they named Lincoln Loud is no more," the demoralizing Lincoln utters, as he starts to morph into a familiar entity that Lincoln encountered. But this transformation is different from the shadow-like entity. This Lincoln's hands turn to sharp claws and nails grow exponentially. His body start to grow in mammoth sizes. His legs extend across the chamber. His skin start to glow in molten lava and fumes. His face develops a giant snout and his teeth get sharper, enough to crush a human whole. His forehead grows a pair of horns. And his eyes transform to be monster-like. Finally, the entity has reached its final course of transformation as Lincoln's foe, The Wilkes.

Frightened as his second encounter with the creature, Lincoln utters, "You…How?"

"We meet again, Lincoln. Don't you remember that I will be coming back for you," the Wilkes answers smoothly.

"You'll never get my sisters! There are not yours to take away!" Lincoln shouts back to the entity.

"Oh, no Lincoln. I'm not going to take away your sisters. You took them away," the creature elaborates, "All of those memories you saw, you crushed them all."

As the Wilkes emphasizes that, the 11-year-old looks back at the crystal balls flashing his memories. He never understands what the creature is blaming about him destroying his memories. Yet, he recalls where the Wilkes get that idea from: how he got into the accident in the first place. He then asks the entity, "Why do you think I crushed them all?"

"You never do get it, do you?" the Wilkes replies, "You sacrificed for yourself to a girl you never knew in your life. Have you ever considered that you are too precious to your friends, your parents, your sisters, and your family? Have you, Lincoln? Now, you must take the blame for it."

With that, the Wilkes strikes his arms to the shelves, knocking them down to Lincoln. Immediately, the 11-year-old tries to outrun the carnage as a horde of crystal balls fall towards him. As he is outpacing, Lincoln suddenly grabs one crystal orb that projects the moment when Lincoln and his sisters are hiding in the basement from a tornado. Another orb falls on him, to which he grabs; this time, it projects the time when Lincoln's sisters help him for his show-and-tell project. Then another orb falls, projecting the moment when the Louds and the McBrides celebrate Christmas with Mr. Grouse. Subsequently, another balls drops to him, showing an important memory when Lincoln celebrated his 11th birthday but all went unplanned yet ended happily for them. And lastly, one more crystal ball plummets on his way, landing near his chest; this time, it projects a core memory when Lincoln greatly confessed his love to his family, especially his sisters, after presenting in an appreciation event.

Lincoln then clings onto those crystal balls as he attempts to escape the clutches of the Wilkes, who is now striking after him with his terrorizing claws. Fortunately, Lincoln spots a crevice formed from the damaged floor and falls on it, losing the Wilkes in the process. The entity tries to dig through the floor to no avail. He can only hear Lincoln's scream as he gets dropped infinitely to a realm he never knows but wishes to escape in any moment of time. There lies the start of Lincoln's obstacle to get back to his true self.

Hours go by as the doctors try to cure Lincoln from his injuries. They successfully tend to his head wounds to ease down the chances of losing his life. However, his brain injury is a different story. The helpless Loud brother is currently under comatose in the intensive care unit, recuperating from his life-threatening affliction and receiving mild vital signs. For that, the doctors keep him under observation of any cardiovascular or neural signs of consciousness.

To describe his head injury, his forehead was shattered, affecting the left part of his face. Thus, the doctor need to treat the forehead and his left side, and cover those parts with a large amount of bandage and gauze. He also has bruises by the upper part of his left arm and leg, and wounds at the left part of his abdomen. However, it is his face that has the most concern.

Meanwhile, the Louds wait for the doctors to give out updates about Lincoln's injuries. Mr. and Mrs. Loud arrived an hour after the girls arrived in the hospital. Mr. Loud right now is taking calls from authorities who are handling Lincoln's case. And Mrs. Loud is helping in giving comfort to her children. As for the Loud sisters, they are all anxious for their brother. Lori is walking aimlessly around the room. Leni is embracing Lisa. Luna is covering her face, hiding her grief from her sisters. Luan wraps her arms around her body to sustain calmness, while also crossing her fingers. Lynn is leaning and burying her head on Lucy's shoulder, also hiding her grief, while Lucy silently maintains a strong posture, in an effort to be strong. Lola and Lana sit in anxiety as Mrs. Loud comforts them by massaging their backs, while also holding Lily. To sum it up, all Louds take their time to adjust from what is probably the most devastating tragedy that happened in their family.

Out of nowhere, Lisa professes something essential, "Leni, at a duration of sorry, I have to properly apologize for labelling you as a scatterbrained kin."

"But Lisa, my brain isn't scattered," Leni implies, "In fact, it is good."

"Yes, it is," Lisa empathetically replies.

Lana then decides to profess something too, "Lola, I know I may be too filthy and too playful at times. But will you always be there for me?"

"Why wouldn't I Lana?" Lola responds, "You're my twin sister. And besides, I would asks the same thing to you. I really need you, even if do not always agree with each other."

With that, Lana tearfully hugs her twin sister, making Lola hug her back.

Being inspired of that gesture of love, Lori decides to pour out her emotions to Luna and Luan. "Hey guys, I know I find you the most annoying people in the planet, so are the rest. And I know I wasn't the responsible sister you were expecting. But I am sorry, for being bossy and mistreating you guys," she sincerely admits.

Because of that, both Luna and Luna hug their older sister.

"We forgive you," Luna utters, giving Lori a sense of relief and assurance from her beloved sisters.

"It's okay sis," Luan adds, "We admit we're not good too." She then returns another hug to the two.

Finally, a lamenting Lynn mumbles to Lucy, "Is Lincoln really dying?"

"What did you say?" Lucy asks.

"I said 'is Lincoln really dying', Lucy. Is he really dying?" Lynn utters in sheer frustration while she holds her tears from enunciating, "You have experience with the dead, right? So you must know if one's dying or not?"

"I hear their voices. But I cannot tell if Lincoln is dying or not," the 8-year-old goth clarifies while trying to hold her grief in the brink of bursting.

Lynn then grabs Lucy by the collar, wanting an immediate answer, "Tell me Lucy! Please!"

"I don't know!" Lucy bellows in tears, "I can hear from the afterlife, but I don't want to see my brother in the afterlife!"

Out of her perturbation, Lynn takes Lucy and hugs her. Though it is against her personality, Lucy decides to take that moment to share her grief with her closest sister. Never the two feel such frustration in their hearts, anxious that their only brother might not make it.

Abruptly, he doctor, who goes by name Dr. Benedict, knocks on the room to give out the report about Lincoln's medical report.

"The Louds?" Dr. Benedict asks.

"Yes doc," Mrs. Loud confirms.

"Dr. Benedict M.D., head neurologist. Just received received the results about Lincoln. According to our paramedics, Lincoln got involved in a car accident that disfigured his head and caused him severe concussion," the doctor lays his report, which shocks the Louds. "Now, he had an open fracture on his skull. So we have to treat it immediately. Luckily, we were successful, but we have yet to confirm the severity of his brain injury, as your...boy is still in coma. But we might see a clear chance of TBI."

"Intercranial injury?" Lisa queries, "That could also be a major factor of a person's diminishing."

"But will he make it doc?" Lori asks in panic, "Will he make it?!"

"The severity of his injuries has yet to be determined if it can cost his life," the doctor responds, "But if I would be realist, I would hope in the Divine One. It could take a miracle for your brother to survive. Don't lose hope."

Getting a vague answer is obviously what Lori does not want. However, from what the doctor confirms, she gets more worried of Lincoln's condition. And just as if hope seems lost, back at the intensive care unit where Lincoln was place, his right index finger starts to switch, triggering for the pulse oximeter to beep.

One nurse spots this, confirming that Lincoln shows signs of consciousness, and rushes to Dr. Benedict. "Doc! You gotta come here quick!"

As the Hispanic nurse alerts, the head neurologist rushes to Lincoln's ICU, followed by the Louds (with the exception of Lynn Sr., who is still on the phone). There, they witness that Lincoln has miraculously woken up seven hours from his injury.

"Lincoln!" the sisters bellow in joy as they wipe their tears and approach their brother.

"Girls, girls, settle down," Dr. Benedict, "If you should be here, then you should learn how to respect the patient." The doctor then examines Lincoln's right eye to check his senses. "Lincoln, can you see?" he asks, making Lincoln do a slow movement on his head. "Senses seem to respond slow but effectively."

"I will tell your dad about this," Mrs. Loud says, leaving the room with Lily.

"Hey Lincoln, how you doing?" Lori says optimistically as the girls gather around him in smiles, "It's us. We're all here for you."

Then slowly, Lincoln utters, "Who...us? Who...are...you?"

At that response, everyone in the ICU is shocked, getting instant assumptions to a common mental deficit that happens to victims of traumatic brain injury.

"Lincoln, do you not know who I am?" Lori asks for confirmation.

"No. Do I need to?" Lincoln replies, giving more shocks to the sisters, indeed confirming that he has amnesia.


	3. Chapter 3

Escaping from The Wilkes is relief, but falling to another abysmal space is distress. Whatever circumstance Lincoln gets involved in externally is tougher internally.

All is hollow from where Lincoln landed, a mountain of rubble and debris. Regaining consciousness, he wakes up with the crystal ball memories on his arms. Fear still plagues Lincoln, as he sees himself trapped in a dark, infinite realm, with only the crystal balls providing light to a vast obscurity.

Hopeless, Lincoln leans by the rubble, letting the gravity slide him by the mountainous pile. However, upon landing, he accidentally lets go off one glass ball, causing it to fracture. Lincoln runs to it to see a noticeable but benign scratch, giving him a sense of relief. But darkness still stumbles around him.

"Hello! Anyone out there!' Lincoln hollers desperately to see if someone can answer or hear him, "Hello! Anybody?! Hello! I really need help! I've been chased by a monster! And I don't know if he will return…"

But no one answers. Not even one. Lincoln can only hear his hollers echo from a distance.

"Anyone?" he utters, but he gets no response. In every minute, no one responds.

This is enough to upset the 11-year-old and to give up on his knees, letting go off the five crystal balls in the process. Hopelessness is all in his mind right now. With all the hurdles he had been through, he is definite that it all let him down to sorrow. Tears slowly from his eyes, as anguish tears inside him.

And from his frustrations, Lincoln bursts out his feelings, "Out of the stuff I have to go through, this is what I get?! I just did the right thing! How it all went this way?! I can't take it! I wanna go home! I wanna see my friends! I wanna see my family! I wanna see my mom and my dad! I wanna see my house! And I truly wanna see my sisters!"

Just as he says that, a growl is heard from a near distance, approaching to his direction. This causes for Lincoln to leave the crystal balls and run away from the approaching creature, whatever it may be. He never think of stopping from fleeing; he just wishes to escape from his nightmarish circumstance. Because of his unstoppable running, Lincoln suddenly trips to the rubble-filled ground and stumbles to a bigger pile of rubble.

Suddenly, the growl lunges to Lincoln, making him scream and cover his face as self-defense. Lincoln then pleads out of terror, "Please! Please! No! I don't wanna be killed! I am tired of where I am now! I just wanna go home to my family, my friends and my own life! Please! No!"

However, as he opens his eyes, Lincoln sees no creature attacking him. He check his surroundings for any sign of an attacker to discover just the same rubble-filled environment, much to his relief. Nevertheless, he goes back to his previous location to retrieve the crystal ball memories he accidentally left behind.

Upon his trek, Lincoln inadvertently trips on a buried item. Annoyed, he kicks it, only to hear items contained. He then clears out the rubble and dusts off the rest. It is revealed that item he kicked was a trunk. But not just any trunk. It was the trunk where he stored his disguises of his sisters (from "Cover Girls"). He decides to open it to reveal not the disguises but valuable items that are specific to each of his sisters. He spots a worn-out cellphone, obviously belonging to Lori; a pin cushion, which may come from Leni; an acoustic guitar, which solely belongs to Luna; a microphone that somehow is owned by Luan; a football, which surely is owned by Lynn; a poetry book, which surely is owned by Lucy; a monkey wrench, which may belong to Lana, since she is good on tools; a tiara, which is one thing Lola owns; an Erlenmeyer flask, a laboratory equipment that is under the property of Lisa; and finally a pacifier, which should belong to none other than Lily. But he also recovers one more sentimental item. It was the picture frame that Lincoln gave his parents as an anniversary gift. He knew at that time that he can never change who his sisters were, and that he only can love them as they are. He clings on the frame for a long duration, until he returns the items back to the trunk and carries it on his way to retrieve the crystal balls. The trunk carries a large weight that Lincoln is having a hard time dragging it to his destination.

However, the journey to retrieve his memories is not as easy as it sounds. As Lincoln looks up on the vast abyss, several white wisps descend from a threshold above and fly across the realm. Though the 11-year-old initially perceives them to be randomly peaceful, their threat manifests when they start scorching the surroundings. Their flames are of snow white, and their presence spreads like wildfire. One wisp spots Lincoln and shoots flames at him. Thankfully, in the nick of time, Lincoln shields himself by the trunk cover and flees from the scene.

The wisp continues to target Lincoln, shooting flames towards him while extinguishing his path. Without looking at his direction, Lincoln falls to a pit where its pitch black atmosphere and chilling temperature restrict for light to appear. However, since these ghastly entities can illuminate their surroundings, the wisp spots him below. And with that, he strikes him in full speed.

Thinking this might be his last moment, Lincoln softly utters, "Farewell, friends. Farewell, my family. I love you all." As the wisp charges the innocent boy, an invisible defense suddenly surrounds Lincoln, obliterating the wisp to oblivion. Witnessing this, Lincoln realizes that his dedication for his loved ones has the power to defeat such supernatural beings, the way he did with The Wilkes. In reflection on that, one item illuminates from the rubble. He approaches it to discover it to be a slingshot. With this, Lincoln takes the advantage to knock down another wisp that is about to strike. And at just one shot, the wisp fades to naught. Lincoln's internal battle just gets brewing.

* * *

Back at the external struggle, the doctors have recently found out of Lincoln's diagnosis from his accident. While Dr. Benedict gathers the latest data, Lincoln's sisters watch helplessly from a viewing room as they see their brother getting examined. Mr. and Mrs. Loud meanwhile receive a report from the police about Lincoln's accident. What the case is not what they seem to be when Mr. Loud receives from the authorities. With these information clashing together, the Loud sisters have yet to know what really happened to their beloved brother.

Dr. Benedict approaches them, "Okay girls, here's what we got. Uhmm where are your parents?"

"Mom's finding dad. She'll be back here," Lynn replies.

"Well, should we wait for them…?" Dr. Benedict asks.

"No, it's okay, go on. I'm here in their behalf," Lori persuades.

The neurologist then lays the report, "Well, you're already informed that your brother Lincoln had suffered from head injuries that fractured skull and caused wounds to his face. Be fortunate because we successfully prevent from blood loss to happen, and he regained his consciousness. He just needs 2-3 weeks to heal. But unfortunately, the accident also caused severe concussion, leading to post-traumatic amnesia, but a worse form. Retrograde amnesia." This causes the sisters to get perplexed at the findings.

"But Lincoln got good grades. How can he have retro grades?" Leni reacts.

"No, Leni," Lisa clarifies, "Retrograde amnesia happens when a person cannot remember anything before the accident, which, in this case, Lincoln forgot who we were."

Lisa's explanation shocks the Loud sisters further to worry.

"But doc, is there something you can do to restore his memories?" Lori queries.

"We're trying our best. We're gonna observe him 24/7, till we can find the suitable treatments for your brother. For now, let us wait for his physical examination to come out," the neurologist states, "I suggest not to worry much about him. We're getting things handled."

But Lori and the rest are left petrified of Lincoln's diagnosis. They never realize the extent of Lincoln's accident. But they somehow cannot accept that their brother has retrograde amnesia.

Shortly after, Mr. and Mrs. Loud enter the room, and the Loud sisters come to their embrace, while also shedding tears in the process. It is a family moment they need to ease the pain from learning about their beloved Lincoln's case.

"Mom, Lincoln can't remember us," Lola says.

"He has retro…whatever amnesia," Lana adds, trembling the Loud parents.

"I'm sorry you have to hear that, Lola, Lana," Rita Loud sympathizes.

"Maybe it's best I explain this further," Dr. Benedict suggests.

At the doctor's recommendation, Mr. Loud says, "Okay kids. I know it's been hard today. But we need you back home."

"What?! But we wanna see Lincoln!" the sisters collectively demand.

"I know. I wanna see Lincoln too. But it's best if you all go home for now. It's getting late. We'll take it from here," Mr. Loud insists, making the girls anxiously walk out of the viewing room, "Lori, you're in charge, as always. Your mom and I will try to go home as soon as we can."

Lori responds worriedly with a nod, following her sisters who are walking back to the waiting room, and out of the hospital. The anxiety of their brother's condition still carries a heavy weight in them, as they go home.

When they arrive, the Loud sisters gather at the living room, at Lori's insistence to wait for their parents to arrive. Each of the siblings faces her own dealings with the unexpected happening. Lori is walking back and forth on her phone. Leni rocks a clueless Lily to sleep. Luna is trying to strum a beat that best fits their situation. Luan crouches her legs by the couch. Lynn leans her head by Lucy's shoulder, while Lucy is writing what is presumed to be a journal entry about Lincoln's accident. Lola and Lana are sitting still by the recliner, with Lola at the seat and Lana at the left armrest. And Lisa tries to cover her eyes from breaking into tears.

"Haven't we literally gone through this before?" Lori raises her concern over the Loud sisters' total bleakness to the situation, "Lincoln may have forgotten about us, but that doesn't mean he is gone."

"But Lori, can you imagine not knowing who we are?" Lynn justifies.

"I know. But we have to be strong, together," the eldest sister encourages, "It's not literally forever that we should mope like this."

But suddenly, Lisa breaks into tears but tries to cover it with Leni's shirt, "I cannot take it anymore! As much as this is irrational, I just want to see my brother normal again."

"But Lisa, you're a genius. Shouldn't you invent some kind of machine or some thingamajig to make Lincoln remember us?" Lola interrogates.

"Negative," Lisa confirms, "Restoring collective memories requires analytical examinations and therapeutic procedures, in order for the neurons to restore and gain access to those lost memories. A push of a button from a mad contraption with exposure to radiation, and Lincoln might have mental paralysis."

"What does that supposed to mean?"

"Meaning, I have no right to restore Lincoln's memories."

"Okay, we get that Lisa. We get it," Lori responds, "I know it's hard to get through this. But we have to."

"But what if Lincoln really lost his memories?" Luan asks worriedly, "Does that mean he won't remember my jokes?"

"Or my songs?" Luna joins in the mix.

"Or how to do poems with me?" Lucy follows.

"Or my beauty pageants?" Lola throws in her concern.

"Or how to help us in our problems?" Lynn adds in, causing much disturbance in the Loud sisters' circle of trust. Their worries extend further from boggling what-if scenarios surrounding Lincoln's situation.

This causes Lori to also get anxious but leans more to venting. With that, she bursts out, "Okay, you guys, will you stop worrying?! It doesn't matter if Lincoln remembers us or not. Lincoln is safe now. And that's all we need to know. And if he does really forget who were, we need to be strong for him. Okay?!"

"It sounds like you have no concern for Lincoln," Lynn deduces in suspicions for Lori's presumed apathy.

"Why would you accuse me of that?" Lori replies, "I am saying that we should be able to stand up ourselves."

"And that's start with caring for our brother," Lana enunciates.

"Yeah Lori! Why wouldn't you care for Lincoln?!" Lola adds in protest.

Lily then wails from the quarreling that she hears. "Oh look Lori, you made Lily. She

And to her loudest defense, Lori bellows, "I care for Lincoln, okay?! I…" Before she could finish her words, she begins to sob. Lori hides herself from her sisters in attempt to hide her weakness from her sisters. As the one currently in charge of the bunch, she is designated to keep her sisters intact and well. However, that seems to be a long hurdle for her, as she bursts in tears. A moment of silence then sweeps in to the Louds, with each contemplating how to cope up with their family's situation.

Suddenly, Luna plays a familiar tune, "Kum bay ya, my Lord, kum bay ya, kum bay ya, my Lord, kum bay ya, kum bay ya, my Lord, kum bay ya, O Lord, kum bay ya…"

The sisters slowly utter the words and proceed to circle around Luna to join in one emotional sing-along. Lana takes Lori's hand, inviting her to join. But she lets go and walks out of the house, while the rest of the sisters sing to "Kumbaya".

Feeling hopeless, Lori lets go off her phone to reflect about her feelings towards Lincoln's accident. Being the bossy one, it is hard for to be sympathetic that easily to her siblings. But whenever the situation merits it, Lori would truly show sympathy. As for this one, she is dealing with a tough reality to accept. Though there are plausible procedures to prevent from that kind of case to happen to her brother, she sort of leans to be realistic. Despite that, she still inhibits the mindset that she and her other sisters will always be there for Lincoln, whatever he is facing. Now, Lori is in conflict whether she should be a realist or an optimist.

As Lori sits by the pavement, her dad hurtles and parks the car by the street, instead of the garage, and approaches Lori.

"Dad?" Lori utters.

"Lori," Mr. Loud responds, then embraces her in comfort, "Where are your sisters?"

"They're inside," Lori answer while trying to hold back her tears.

"Good. There's something I need to tell you that I think you can handle better than your sisters," he says with a solemn tone. Mr. Loud then pulls out an envelope and brings out its contents: a file report and photos. "We got Lincoln's files from the police. It was not simply an accident he got involved in. Lincoln took a dive to save a girl from being hit by a car."

"Lincoln saved a girl?"

"That's right. She pushed the girl by the side. The police said it was intentional. Now, the school has custody of this girl." Lynn Sr. then shows a file photo of the girl. "I need you to approach this girl and ask her what happened that lead Lincoln to this situation."

"Why me?"

"Because I want to you to be the sister Lincoln wants you to be."

Those words causes Lori to tremble in awe, as she realized she was given a huge responsibility. Nevertheless, she wishes to accept this task for Lincoln.


	4. Chapter 4

Erring is on every cold stepping stone, but not in a fervent spirit. For Lincoln, the tough has yet to come.

With his shield and his sword, he was able to fend off the first wave of wisps, which he presumed are threats from The Wilkes. Indeed enough, after he defeated five more otherworldly wisps, one more wisp fashions a crossbow out of thin air and aims at Lincoln. More than what Lincoln previously thought, those crossbows turn out to be lethal when Lincoln witnesses one arrow punctured to a hollow tree and obliterates it to oblivion. At this, Lincoln tries to run away from the wisp.

A chase ensues between the two of them. The deadly wisp keeps shooting arrows at the hasty 11-year-old. Yet, he is able to evade them with his shield. But one arrow nearly strikes his shoulder; so Lincoln instinctively pull out his sword and strike it to oblivion. Though it is a critical hit, the part of the sword where Lincoln struck the arrow marginally corrodes from the impact. But it is not time for Lincoln to reflect on that, as the deadly wisp dashes to his position. Lincoln tries to escape from the wisp's way, but he suddenly trips from the debris-filled ground that drops one crystal orb towards a steep slope. Knowing it is a vital memory that is stored in that orb, Lincoln races to get it by dropping towards the slope. In obvious implication, this sends him rolling down the slope like a stone.

As he lands on the ground, Lincoln tries to reach out for his sword, but the wisp suddenly spots him from above and hurtles to his direction. It is truly a struggle for the ailing, innocent boy to reach the only weapon he can use to outdo the evil forces. But with his current circumstance, he gets hopeless, for he thinks this might be his end. Never would he guess that this will be his demise.

Thus, he spends those last moments, reminiscing his loved ones, especially his sisters. It had been a long journey for Lincoln, from the first time he appeared to his family to the time he placed himself in a life-risking situation. Despite the hardships he had gone through, it did not compare to the joys he had as a thoughtful student, a dedicated friend, a lovable son and a great brother.

Thankfully, this becomes enough for Lincoln to gain the strength that he needs. With that, he reaches out his sword and prepares to gash the wisp by its abdomen. This sends the wisp crashing to the ground towards a pile of ground debris. The gash is nearly fatal for this wisp that it slowly withers from its wounds.

Fortunately for the Wilkes' minion, but unfortunately for Lincoln, it spots a glowing object buried on its side. The wisp then picks up the object form the rubble, which turns out to be one of Lincoln's memory orbs. And for this orb, it flashes one important happening on his life: his birth. Unbeknownst to Lincoln, it is crucial to keep the memory of his birth, as this is legitimate for the boy to believe his part of the Loud family. Without it, then it will severely affect the recuperating Lincoln right now, in terms of his mental state.

But since the Wilkes' minions are also mindful of Lincoln's mental condition, the dying wisp proudly takes this advantage to show the orb to Lincoln and absorbs itself in the orb, for it to fade along with him.

Lincoln is wondering what the wisp is doing. But he then gets troubled when he sees flashes of his young family from the orb. Realizing that the orb (not from the five orbs he has in his possession) contains one of his memories, he races to get the orb before the wisp does its deeds. "No! Please! Stop! Don't please!" the poor 11-year-old pleads to the wisp, "Don't your dare!"

But it is too late for Lincoln. The wisp absorbs itself in the orb. And as it dies, the orb blasts through its surroundings that sends Lincoln being thrown off from his position at full force and screaming at place.

* * *

Somehow, back in the real world, at the exact same time, Lori suddenly wakes up in screaming. She finds herself resting by the computer desk with the PC still on. She immediately switches it off and heads to the couch to rest for the whole night. Going to her own bed is not an option for her, since she does not want to show her vulnerability to Leni. Thankfully, the cushion slumbers of the sofa gives her comfort but not warmth from the impending rainstorm.

Having heard of the rampant scream, Mrs. Loud gets up from the bed and checks out where it came from. She senses it to come from the living room. Thus, she enters there to see Lori curling her body on the couch.

"Lori, everything okay?" she earnestly asks.

Lori can only mutter her chatters from the cold. But more than that, she starts to mope about the circumstances that the family has right now.

"Lori sweetie, it's gonna be okay," Mrs. Loud assures comfortingly.

"Mom, I don't know. With Lincoln at the hospital, and with amnesia, I don't know…" Lori admits hesitatingly.

"Then be hopeful. We are not going to lose your brother, I promise," the Loud matriarch consoles, "We are all in this together."

With that assurance, Lori embraces her mother tearfully. "Oh mom…" she mopes. But more than just worrying about losing Lincoln from his post-traumatic amnesia, Lori deeply fears about her responsibility to handle the case that her dad explained to her. Yet, she wants to accept it, for her brother.

For now, the elderly Loud sister rests upon her mother's arms.

"Okay Lori, get some rest now. You have a long day later," Mrs. Loud says as she pats her head and gives her one more embrace before they turn to sleep.

* * *

The next day, the Loud sisters (except for Lori) drop by at the hospital to visit Lincoln. But the nurses designate them at the viewing room where they witness Lincoln undergoing mental examination by specialists for concussion.

Inside the ICU, a doctor with a British accent initiates a face-to-face interview with Lincoln, "Good morning Lincoln, my name's Dr. Martin. We're going to have a little chat, if that's okay with you, my lad."

"Well, I don't see why not," Lincoln replies loosely, "I mean I have nothing to do here, besides waiting for the second the physician ask me of my metabolic status."

"Good. Now I have a set of questions to ask you. All you need to do is to answer them based on what you know."

"Well, okay. I might as well give it a try," the 11-year-old says.

"Pleasant. So, tell me. What's the capital of Somalia?" the doctor asks.

"That's Mogadishu," Lincoln straightforwardly answers.

"That is correct."

Lincoln's sudden feat on answering basic knowledge questions catches the attention of the sisters.

"How come Lincoln knows that if he has amnesia?" Lola wonders.

"Dunno, but maybe it means Lincoln is getting his memory back," Luna deduces.

"Really? Lincoln's remembering?" Lana asks.

"No, I don't know," Luna clarifies, "What I meant is he might get his memory back."

"There's an explanation to that but I doubt you would accept it as fact," Lisa comments.

"Oohh, I hope he doesn't run off steam along memory lane. Hehe," Luan shares.

 _Back to Lincoln and the doctor..._

"Okay, what's the difference between osmosis and diffusion?" the doctor questions Lincoln.

"Osmosis is the transfer of liquid through the cell wall, while diffusion is the transfer of either solids, liquids or gases from a higher area of concentration to a lower area of concentration," Lincoln easily answers.

"Correct."

"And osmosis is a kind of diffusion, only opposition: liquid moves from a lower concentration to a higher concentration."

"Thank you for emphasizing. Okay, who wrote 'The Catcher in the Rye'?"

"Jerome David Salinger."

 _Back to the sisters..._

"Hmm...interesting. Lincoln seems to retain trivial facts in his memory," Lisa implies.

"What does that mean?" Lynn asks.

"It means, for your layman's terms, that Lincoln might have remembered things he learned at school," Lisa answers, "Not the same can be said for Lincoln's memory of us."

"But he can remember us, right?" Leni butts in for Lisa's confirmation.

"That's why I said not the same can be for Lincoln's memory."

"But man, I didn't know he could be this smart," Lana comments.

"Well, it's not like he showed that previously," Lucy points out.

 _Back to the interview..._

"And finally, who is the 23rd president?" the physician asks.

"Benjamin Harrison. Republican. Elected president in 1888," Lincolm

"Very good, Lincoln. You're doing impressive with our question and answer."

"Anymore, Dr. Martin?"

"Well, we can go through more." The doctor then flips his papers on his clipboard for a new batch of questions. "Okay, where do you live?"

"I don't remember," Lincoln answers, trying to dig for answers, "Wild guess: Burbank, Los Angeles?"

Though baffled, the physician shrugs this off and proceeds with the interview, "Good. Do you have any pets?"

"Uhmmm, a parrot I think. Yes, a parrot."

 _Back to the sisters..._

Obviously, they are perplexed at Lincoln's failure to answer the more personal questions. Though, this answers Lisa's assumptions.

"Knew it. Knew that condition concussed him," Lisa utters.

"What is it?" Luna queries.

"You see. Lincoln can only remember basic knowledge, and not episodic memories. Meaning, Lincoln knows 1 + 10, but not the 11 of us," Lisa explains, "And to clarify, I mean it being 11 of us. That includes Lincoln himself."

"But can we call it a good news?" Lynn asks.

"Depending on the outcome of this interview."

"So Lincoln might be 11 of us?" Leni asks, making Levi palms his face.

 _Back to the interview..._

The doctor proceeds with a heavy-handed question, "Now Lincoln, I want you to answer this sincerely. Do you have a brother, sisters? Siblings, maybe?"

"I don't know," Lincoln stammers, struggling to answer the question, "Probably have no siblings. Nope, I have no brother or sisters."

Despite that claim, the doctor, being a professional neurological practitioner, proceeds regardless.

 _Back to the sisters..._

It is a shock for them that it becomes clear in their eyes that their dear brother fails to remember his sisters, the people he say he would never trade for the world. And at awe and disappointment, they all refuse that Lincoln forgets about them.

"No, no, no, this could not be," Luna utters in panic.

"Lincoln cannot remember us?" Lola wails.

Lana then slowly lands herself to the floor and mope from such severe distraught. "That can't be! Lincoln needs to remember us, right?" she asks in denial.

"Lana, we don't know," Luna replies, giving up. She then takes up Lana and hugs her to ease off her worries. "It's okay Lana. We're in this together. Lincoln has not forgotten about us. I promise."

"Promise?" Lana tearfully asks, raising her pinky.

"Promise," Luna assuredly guarantees, then crosses her pinky to Lana's as they embrace.

After that honest sister moment, Lucy approaches them and joins in. "I truly have a hard heart. But now it softens, for Lincoln," she shares.

"Can we hold hands again, guys?" Leni asks.

"Well, it could be a handful at this time," Luan responds with a bit of wordplay there, since this is a serious moment for the sisters.

"I guess we could," Luna replies as she holds Lana and Lucy from the right and left side, respectively. Leni, Luan, Lily, Lynn and Lola follows suit, while Lisa is the last one to join in, rubbing off the adamancy she has for her siblings.

Minutes go by, and the Loud sister take this moment to come together and muster their courage to overcome their worries about Lincoln. Suddenly, the neurosurgeon Dr. Benedict bursts in the room to see the siblings hugging each other.

"Girls, you are here early," the doctor utters.

"We came as we could," Luna answers in behalf of the sisters.

"Okay, you with your parents? Or any guardian?"

"Mom and dad are busy at the police for Lincoln's case," Luan answers.

"So, we plan to go ourselves," Lana adds, "Also Luna's leading us now."

"That's fascinating. Glad you sisters can bond still as one unit." The doctor the brings out a report to announce in front of the sisters. "Now, you do girls really want to see your brother?"

The Loud sisters then collectively share their thoughts, to which they answer "Yes" or "Definitely".

"Okay I see your excitement," the doctor says, "Now, we determined Lincoln's memory condition. The semantic memories retained than the episodic ones. Meaning, he fully forgot about who he is, since the day he was born."

Of course, this surprises the sisters further. "Now girls, it's not to late for your brother from completely forget about you. In fact we need you. Since Lincoln really needs psychoanalysis, we need your presence to map his cerebral cortex and shell out his memories. What'd you say?"

With no other choice, Luna replies, "We'll try. Right guys?" The sisters then collectively reply like previously.

"Good, okay. Gonna give you girls 10 minutes to say 'hello' to him. You may enter his room know," the doctor says, signalling for the girls to rush to Lincoln's ICU. They never mind the time or the foregone conclusion. They just want to see their brother, for they missed him very much.


	5. Chapter 5

Finally giving permission for the girls to visit their ailing brother, Dr. Benedict readies Lincoln for their visit. He enters his ICU, as the physician there wraps his mental examination."Are we good now?" the neurologist asks.

"It's okay, doc. You may take over," the physicians confirms and walks out of the room with his findings."So Lincoln, how are we?" Dr. Benedict asks.

"Actually, indeed splendid, Dr. Benedict. I never thought I would retrace Paul Revere's history from the time he was a dentist until that moment he alerted about the arrival of the British colonists," Lincoln expounds.

"That's fantastic, Lincoln. Glad that you were able to retrieve some essential information."

"I know right," Lincoln replies as he chows down a cup of orange pudding, "You know, Dr. Benedict, I think I want to converse with one of your co-doctors next time and content to them why orange pudding is served as one of the patient's meals, because did you know that such pudding contains 45.7 g of sugar that is the equivalent to four cans of cola?"

"Yes, you may, my dear lad, but there are special people who want to meet you, if that is okay with you."

"Well, if they are important, I do not see a reason to refute their visitation. But I do not know."

"You will be fine, my boy." Dr. Benedict then opens the door for the Loud sisters to enter. Immediately, they excitingly converge to Lincoln, much to the latter's horror.

"Calm down girls," Dr. Benedict reminds them, but they do not hear him from their sheer excitement.

"Lincoln, we thought we lost you," Leni says.

"Us too," the twins agree.

"Now that we are here with you," Lucy articulates.

"Let's have fun!" Lynn finishes Lucy's statement, making the girls holler, "Yeah!" and embrace Lincoln tightly.

"Okay, this is getting tense," Lincoln utters as he feels being choked by their embraces.

"Easy, easy girls. Now, you can take Lincoln out of his room," Dr. Benedict reminds them, "But ground rules, don't take him out of the hospital premises. Don't pass through the off-limits areas. And importantly, don't injure him again. You wouldn't your brother back in surgery. Do I make myself clear, girls?"

"We got this, doc," Luna answers.

"Good. But before you leave, here," the neurologist utters, as he brings out a wheelchair for Lincoln. Luna and Lynn then lifts up their bed-ridden Lincoln and place him at the wheelchair. "Uhmm doc, I'm not sure about this," Lincoln addresses worriedly, "I don't know this people."

"Just give them a chance for the day, and perhaps we can give you a Readers' Digest tonight."

"Well, as long as they don't hurt me."

"Relax bro, we're not go hurt you. We're just gonna take you out for some fun," Lynn assures as she pushes Lincoln's wheelchair.

"Trust us, Linc. We wheel take chair of you. Hehehe. Get it?" Luan jokingly implies.

But as he is being taken out, Lincoln still vents in nervousness, "Okay, first of all, your puns are painful to hear. And second, any of you, don't call me bro. I'm not your brother."

"Aww bro, just chill," Lynn caringly comforts her brother, "That maybe stress from the operation in your head.

* * *

With that, the Louds exit Lincoln's ICU as Dr. Benedict goes back to his post. The sisters plan to take him around the hospital, in ways to make him remember who he really is. Lynn volunteers to go first by touring him around on his wheelchair.

"Now bro, let me make you remember those times when we were sparring partners," Lynn enunciates.

"We were sparring partners? I highly doubt that," Lincoln responds.

"Oh come on. You can't deny. We had loads of fun in sports. Though I was always the winner. Anyway, would you recall playing baseball?"

"No, I know how baseball works. But I never remembered playing baseball."

"That's okay. How about football?"

"No."

"Table football?"

"No."

"Basketball?"

"No."

"Foosball?"

"No. Or any other ball sport. Or sports for that matter. No."

"Alrighty then. If not, can you remember the time when we used to play with Pop-Pop's wheelchair and race it like a go cart?"

"I never remember everything what you said. And who is Pop-Pop?"

"Well, maybe this will refresh your mind." At her words, Lynn stop Lincoln's wheelchair and firmly holds both handles like a motorcycle engine.

"Wait, what are you doing?!"

"Prepare to witness a racing champion in his return. Ready Lincoln?"

"What?!"

"Good! Go!" Suddenly, Lynn sprints Lincoln's wheelchair at full speed like a shopping cart and lets the chair slide in full acceleration. She gets on board to the chair by stepping on its lower bars, as she bellows breathlessly. While Lincoln screams at the top of his breath. They traverse the hall from end to end, frightening a doctor, two nurses, a patient and her visitor as they passed by them.

Suddenly, Lynn sees a sign from her direction but safely latches on it like a cat. She gets relieved by this but panics when she sees a staircase from Lincoln's direction.

"Lincoln, look out!" Lynn alerts him.

"Ahhh!" Lincoln bellows, then immediately pulls the emergency brake. He nearly falls to the staircase in a lean but thankfully stops at the topmost platform. "Phew…that was close."

But suddenly, Lucy appears behind him. "Lincoln!"

Of course, this scares Lincoln, and he falls down from his wheelchair and drops on the steps and towards the landing."Lincoln?" Lucy utters.

Lynn then rushes to the scene. "What did you do, Lucy?"

"I was just call out for his help. I wanted to finish my poem for today for a recital," Lucy answers.

"Well, look. You just made Lincoln fall because of your appear/disappear tactics," Lynn points.

"No! It was both of you who did this to me," Lincoln expresses his aggravation, "You and your sports mumbo-jumbo that became a pain in the gut. And you, whoever you are, don't do that ever again!" Lincoln's vexation just leaves Lynn and Lucy shocked at their brother's sudden explosion of anger at them. Lincoln may have angry moments occasionally but he is usually a peacemaker. Here, he is at his iratest. "Can I be with the people who are not gonna injure me or scare me?"

* * *

Next, Lincoln is moved to the visitor's lounge where Luna is strumming the perfect mood music for her brother and Lisa is examining his physical stature.

"So bro, what'd you say? Passion Pit or Foreigner?" Luna asks.

"Uhmm what are you talking about?" Lincoln replies, not familiar of what Luna mentioned.

"Come on bro! Give me a beat I can play for you."

"Well, if that's the case, would there be any Boston jazz lounge music in the running? It soothes the sense and calms the nerves after a while ago."

"You're so funny, dude. Here's let me give you a beat." Then Luna starts playing "Chelsea Dagger" by The Fratellis in a fast pace.

"Hold still," Lisa instructs Lincoln as she places a head caliper above him, "Don't move your head."

"What did you find so far?" Lincoln asks, "Are you even really examining me? Because I have physicians with better educational background and experience that I can rely on."

"Do one of them won a Nobel Peace Prize for Physics?" the 4-year-old genius snaps back.

"As if you won one?"

"I did."

"Where is it?"

"See it for yourself when we go back home."

"Right…It just only means that you never won one. And how would a child of your age receive the most coveted honor in the fields of science, art and philanthropy?"

Lisa then twitches her eye, in suspicion of what become of her brother's attitude. "You seemed to have a lot of ego in that mental space of yours."

"Well, it seems your superego has tremendously developed and overtaken your mind that you become a monotonous self-proclaimed virtuoso who treats science like a play set."

Lisa is nothing else but stunned. Though she is disgusted at this display of behavior, she concludes that this is due to Lincoln's retrograde amnesia. Nonetheless, she continues the examination. "Just don't move."

Lincoln then takes his notice on Luna, who is strumming uncontrollably like how wild rock musicians do. "Uhmm, miss with pixie haircut, would you mind if not playing rock music?" But Luna fails to listen to her brother. "Miss, can you stop playing rock music?"

"But I thought you like rock music?" Luna is stunned at his words.

"I never I say I do."

"Come on, dude. Don't you remember? You might have remembered when I take you to your first concert?" She then plays a Smooch song, which Lincoln is annoyed at.

"I don't remember any concert I went to. I wish I could. And if I do, I would have gone to a philharmonic orchestra playing Chopin."

"Well, let me show you some fun." With that, Luna wildly strums to the beat of "Bad Reputation" by Joan Jett. She even swings her guitar in one moment, to the revulsion of Lincoln.

"Will you stop that?" Lincoln warns her, to no avail. And as Lisa ducks one swing of the guitar, Luna accidentally hits Lincoln by the side and pierces one needle of the caliper to his head.

"Owwww. Uhmmm kid, is the needle in this caliper rusted?" Lincoln asks anxiously.

"I haven't checked it," Lisa answers, "But I borrowed that from that. And he told me he used that caliper from college. So, I think so."And with that realization, Lincoln screams at the top of his lungs.

* * *

After a disastrous hangout with Lynn, Lucy, Luna and Lisa, Lincoln confides peacefully with Lana, Lola and Lily in the visitor's lounge with a bandage to his wound. Currently, they are playing UNO cards.

"Thankfully, I have tetanus shots, and that girl's stupid needle has no rust on it," Lincoln spouts out, "I just hope you guys won't have the same attitude."

"Not to worry, dear brother. You can count on me, Lily and Lana to be your peaceful angels," Lola assures.

"Thank you. And please don't call me your brother," Lincoln responds.

"Come on. You must remember Dairyland?"

"Nope."

"My beauty pageants?" Lola asks."Hops, Charles or Izzy?"

"Nope."

"Or any of my ribbon dancing recitals, my dear brother?"

"No, no, no. I can't remember. And I am nobody's brother."

"Then what are you, Lincoln?" Lana asks.

"I…I…I don't know. I don't know who I am really. I just know stuff like when will the next eclipse happen."

"Definitely. But for us, you are our dear brother, our only beloved brother," Lana lovingly shares.

"Thanks for that, I guess, little girl." They then continue their peaceful card game. "Who's next?"

"Ohh, that's me," Lana says, then draws a +4 card. Lola then draws a +2 card, to which Lincoln lays a +2 card, which ends with Lana drawing a +4 to Lola. This leaves Lola receiving 12 cards from the UNO deck. But as she does, she notices a tongue coming out of Lana's cap and sneakily getting the cards from her sister's deck.

"Lana, what is that in your hat?" Lola confronts her sister.

"What is what, Lola?" Lana replies with a gleam to her face.

"Oh don't go pretending in front of my face, twinny. I saw what I saw!" With that, she forcibly removes Lana's cap to reveal Hops underneath it, with several cards on her head, answering Lola's suspicion. "Ah-ah! Cheater! You even a whole deck of +4 cards!"

"It's not what you think, dear sis. I just thought it would be fun like that," Lana nervously defends, but only makes Lola more infuriated. "You call this fun!" And because of that, Lola lunges to her sister, causing a fight cloud.

"Okay girls, would you calm down?" Lincoln urges, to no avail. He then picks up Lily as the twins are about to go to her direction. "Well, it's just you and me, dear peaceful angel." Lily then giggles at her brother's words. "Oh, glad that made you glad. Compared to the girls before, you don't seem so bad after all." But untimely, Lily suddenly sneezes, releasing the snot to her brother's eyes. "Ahh! My eyes!" He then places Lily by the wheelchair and panics to the nearest faucet. But since he is in a lounge, Lincoln's last resort is the water dispenser where he moves close to its mouth and pours the water on his face. "Ughh, forget what I said." And, if to end all untimely happenings, the twins end up in his direction, absorbing him in their fight.

* * *

After that debacle he never wanted, Lincoln ends up in another waiting room with Leni and Luan. Despite the last three moments that left him aggravated, the 11-year-old gives one more chance to the last group of girls who wanted to spend time with him. Right now, they are calmly knitting a sweater, with Lincoln holding taking the sides.

"…And you know, I told them that I am not their brother. But they insist. I don't know why. But they feel like close to me. But they are just pests on the bed," Lincoln relays the story to Leni and Luan, "I don't know. But you guys understand, right?"

"Oh Linky, they must really love you," Leni comments.

"Oh love me? Like being a dare devil, a careless dork and two brats is love," Lincoln counter-argues.

"Oh, dear brother, but that's how we love you," Luan defends their case.

"I don't know about you, but I don't call that love. And please, don't call me your brother."

"Why? Are we a brother to you? Hehehe. Get it?"

"Okay, one more pun, and I am out."

"But you use to like or tolerate my jokes."

"Does this look like tolerating to you?" He then points to his disgruntled face that slowly resembles that of Squidward's. "Ahh, Linky, you shouldn't be a grouch, everybody needs to be happy. Well, we really had a lot of happy moments." She says this while leaning to his head.

"I will be happy if I need to be, if I could remember those moments, which I don't."

"Oh Linky, do you remember Funny Business?"

"No."

"Or Dairyland?"

"Haven't that girl with the red hat asked that?"

"Lana?"

"Yes, exactly."

"Or how about…?"

"Look, if you're trying to make me remember something in my past, if I ever have a past, I don't remember."

"Just try so. If you do, then you'll remember that you have the best sisters ever in the world. Could you?"

"If I could…"

At Lincoln's near vexation, Luan decides to stop asking him, leaving her dismayed.

"Hold on Lincoln, we're almost done with the sweater," Leni says.

"Good, let me speed it up," Lincoln responds by knitting at a fast pace. And from here, it seems that the memory he has in home economics retained on his mind. And after five minutes, the sweater is done.

"There, a brand new sweater," Leni utters as she shows them the finished sweater, "…for Lincoln."

"Me?" Lincoln asks.

"Of course, you. Who else? Me?"Lincoln then tries it on the sweater with a heart design in the front, to see it fit his body. "Wow, this is really amazing. Really, really warm inside."

"Aww glad you love it, my itty-bitty bro," Leni cutely utters.

"Yeah, but it's kind of itchy right now. What is this made out of?"

"Oh, just with the best natural fiber linen I saw in the store."

"Wait, linen?" Lincoln then notices he contracted itchiness from the knitted linen and attempts to scratch his body. "You didn't tell me this was linen."

"Well, I do think it's healthy for the body."

"But slightly not healthy for the skin. I need to get this off."

"I will help you.""

No, it's fine lady. I can get to the bathroom myself." Lincoln then tries to remove the tight sweater as it reaches his head. Now to end all untimely moments, the rest of Lincoln's sisters (consisting of Luna, Lynn, Lucy, Lola, Lana, Lisa and Lily) burst from the door and surprise him with a cake. "Surprise Lincoln!"

And since Lincoln has the sweater on his head, he accidentally smudges to the cake, and the one of its candles suddenly lights up Lincoln's sweater. Feeling the scorch, he screams, "Fire! Fire!"

At total panic, the Loud sisters try to find ways to extinguish the fire. Lana attempts to use the soda bottle they have, but she accidentally throws it to Leni's gut. Lola, Luna and Lucy try to fan out the flame, but Lisa instructs them, "Pour him water! Pour him water!" Finally, Lynn and Luan extinguish the flame by grabbing pillows and putting them out. And as Lynn finishes off smacking Lincoln's head, Lincoln gets infuriated at the turn of events. Lynn can only shrug in front of Lincoln with a nervous smile. And to add salt in the wound, Leni finally pours water onto Lincoln.

"That's it! I had enough! I don't want to see any of you in my life!" Lincoln scolds at them before he walks out of the waiting room.

"Wait Lincoln!" Luna tries to catch up to him, followed by the others. "Wait!"

"Brother, don't go!" Lana calls out to him.

Out of his frustration, the 11-year-old yells at them, "And please don't call me your brother! I am not your brother! I am no one's brother! I don't know any of you guys! I can't remember any of you!"

"But Lincoln, we know you. We love you," Leni reaches out to him.

"I am sorry. You have taken things too far. Oh, and by the way, girl with the braces, if I could remember that I have a brother or a sister for this matter, I hope that they won't be like any one of you!" And at his vexation, Lincoln walks out of the scene, dragging his wheelchair back to the ICU.

Everyone in the scene is stunned at the happening, but the sisters have received the biggest blow of their lives when their brother, no matter how he rephrases his words, actually revealed that he hates them.

They have no other words to say. Only anguish falls upon them, making it hard to swallow what their brother said. And starting with Leni, devastated to her knees, they weep out of hopelessness from Lincoln's fate. What more could be devastating for the Loud sister than for their dearest brother, their only brother in their lives, to reject them? Never there was until they keep hearing it in their minds. Never.


	6. Chapter 6

Meanwhile, Lori cruises to Lincoln's elementary school under an ominous weather. She plans to meet up with the girl that her dad stated was part of the investigation of Lincoln's injury. She does not know what to make of this situation, as she is handed over the responsibility to confront her. If anything, she just hopes to find absolute answers from her about how Lincoln ended up in the hospital in the first place.

As she parks the van and enters the school premises, Lori encounters Lincoln's homeroom adviser, Ms. Agnes Johnson, before she enters the room.

"Oh Lori, sweet dear," Ms. Johnson greets her with a hug, "How's Lincoln?"

"He's fine at the last time we saw him. But I am not sure what he's literally going through now," Lori answers.

"I am sorry for his injuries, especially his amnesia."

"It's fine, ma'am. We're trying…"

"Good, such a brave young woman." Ms. Johnson then points out the girl, as indicated by the investigation. She is truly obscure with her black jacket and strands of hair that stick out from her hood. In this sullen moment, she can only stare at the bright window on her right side. "There she is," the teacher explains, "She's a student of mine. Rarely speaks. So it's really a shock that she was the root cause of Lincoln's case. I tried to talk to her but she only mumbles her words."

"Then why you called me here?"

"We have no other options for her to explain the situation. She was the only person to witness Lincoln's demise. And so, we thought that if we can bring one family member to confront her, we can get some answers."

"I just don't why my parents would literally choose me. I mean mom's handling the insurance and dad's assessing the police report."

"Well, there's no harm if you try talking to her."Lori then glances back on the girl, noticing her to be a loner girl archetype. "What's her name?"

"Audrey."

With that, Mrs. Johnson opens the door to the classroom and leads Lori inside. She then places in front of the girl for Lori to sit on. Two guards are on standby at the back of the room. Lori then places her bag by her side and pulls out the folder of the girl's findings. This is a first for Lori. So, it is no surprise that she feels her throat dry, uncertain of how to start the conversation.

After several deep breaths, Lori finally initiates the talk, "Okay…uhmm…Audrey right?"

But the girl never utters a word. Her hood just covers her eyes, and her mouth remains stilted.

"Alright. Okay, well, I'm Lori by the way, Lincoln's older sister. It's the eleven of us. Lincoln's the middle child, which makes him very special to us."Still, the girl never responds. Nevertheless, Lori continues speaking.

"Okay, I see you're speechless. But I'll literally be open to you, for us to, you know, establish a connection. So, can I ask for your cooperation? Because if you won't, why would I literally be here in the first place? Or why would you be here in the first place? We just need to ease things down. Leave the personal doohickey aside and help us, okay?"

Until now, the girl never lays out a word to Lori."Okay. I will give you time to think what you want to say. Just tell me if you are ready. So, let me tell something about myself. I am a senior. I have a boyfriend right now, who is the best thing in the world. I enjoy sushi, kale salad and walks in the beach. And I have a guilty pleasure for Burpin Burger. So…how about you? Anything interesting about you?"

Even with Lori's attitude, the girl never corresponds to anything she says. She just remains sullen and wordless of whatever she may hide under her hood.

"Okay, if that doesn't interest you, if I may, Audrey, I'll read to you the report that my dad gave to me about the case. 2nd of December, 4:15 PM, a girl with a red jacket crosses the street, five feet away from Royal Woods Elementary. A silver Honda Civic with the plate number…"

Just hearing the report repetitively just makes her emotions stir to guilt. It is not the first time she had heard of the report. Every word of the incident speaks of horror. And every detail trembles on her spine and shakes every vein in her body. She just wants to shrug off every thought of what she have done. But those thoughts come back to her. So, it is to her outpouring of emotions that the girl suddenly vents, "How long is this going take?!"

Lori then stops reading the reports and turns her attention to the girl. For someone who is claimed to be shy, it is startling for her to hear the girl lash out to her. "What?"

"I asked, 'How long is this going take?'"

"Well, if you are gonna share us what happened in the incident…"

"No. I meant how long are you gonna question me? I've been listening to the same old talk with different people, even though I want to forget everything that happened. I had enough blaming myself. And now, you're making me remember…that time!"

Suddenly, she bolts out of her seat but trips close to the window as she breaks down in tears. Lori, Ms. Johnson and the guards rush to the girl, with Lori approaching her first. It is truly a drastic image for Lori to see a girl at Lincoln's age to be this emotional.

"Audrey, Audrey, listen," Lori tries to comfort her, but the girl keeps on weeping. "Please Audrey. Listen." But as she pats her left shoulder to soothe the girl from her emotional breakdown, Lori discovers an alarming discovery when she moves her hand to the lower part of her arm – multiple wrist cuts. She backs down for a stumbling moment after feeling the scars on her wrists and being horrified about it, something she never thought she would come across. This just stirs more questions about the girl's mysterious history and her association to Lincoln's accident.

Lori tries to touch the scarred wrists once more. However, having felt Lori's hands move around her army, the girl pushes Lori's hands away out of suffering. Her weeping becomes uncontrollable to the point of losing her breath.

Lori tries her best to give the girl comfort by embracing her and tapping her back. Though the girl attempts to push herself away from the Loud sister, she eventually gives in to Lori's embrace. The two then take the time to compose themselves from the breakdown, with Lori insisting of Mrs. Johnson and the two guards to back away for a moment.

"Hey, Audrey, whatever you are facing, whether that might be good or bad, we're here to help you," Lori consoles to her, "Don't be scared. I'm scared too. But we're in this together."

"How would you know that?" the girl sorrowfully asks.

"I will…I will literally…try," she hesitantly answers, placing her in a risky, depressing pedestal.

Few moments after the girl's breakdown, Lori has the girl settle down to her seat and goes to consult to Ms. Johnson about the girl.

"She was irresponsive to anyone, even in class. I tried to acknowledge her presence but she just ignores anyone who passes her by. So the class does the same," Agnes explains.

"But does anyone know about her…scars?" Lori asks.

"Some students of mine noticed of Audrey making marks on her wrists. I tried asking of her about it but she refused to answer and even hid her scars. I don't want to force her into telling. But I tried my best to reach out to her. Even the counselor. But only now do I feel there's something deeper in her."

"I don't know Ms. Johnson. I don't know if I am literally the right person for this job."

"You know Lori, me too. But your parents have in faith you. So, I wanted to do the same because I know you love your brother. And you would do anything for him as family."

Hearing Ms. Agnes' faith in her, Lori turns back to the girl, who is still moping on her school desk. She does not want to feel despondent on the girl's hidden circumstances. But she has no change. But this leaves her forlorn of how to get answers from an equally hurt person.

* * *

Back at Lincoln, after he got assaulted by a dying wisp, he retreats to a shallow pit, with his sword, shield and five orbs at hand. It had been a difficult journey for the lad on the road to redemption. He does not know where he is or what he must he do. He just desperately wishes to return to his own life with his beloved friends and family. Hopeless, he lays crying on the dirt.

Never does he want to go down to this path. His unrecognized heroism really cost his life to be thrown to oblivion. And his current state demands him to face his internal demons, a path he is not aware exists or even he is ready for. To all extent, this is something spiritual, especially with his encounter with the supernatural Wilkes. Nevertheless, it makes him all stumble to futility.

Weeping, Lincoln hollers, "Why you do this to me? I don't what to do?! I just saved a girl from certain death and all this leads me here. I can't take it anymore! Please! I want to go home! I want to be at home! With my family and friends! Where are you?! Please! I don't know what to do. I wanna go home…"

On his knees, the poor boy drops his weapons and his memory orbs in utter surrender.

Suddenly, a hovering apparition wrapped in white light appears in front of him. "My child, what have you weeping? Fear not."

Frightened at the image in front of him, Lincoln asks, "Who are you?"

"I am the spirit that guides you wherever you go. I was the one who offered you the sword and shield that you need."

"Wait, are you…?"

"Fear not, my child. The Wilkes will return to find you. You have to be ready."

"But I don't want to be ready. I can't fight him. I can't even fight for myself here. I am too young…"

"Child, don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example. You are never too young."

"But why put me in this situation? I never wanted any of this. Even my family. How? And why? I need answers. I want to go home."

"Calm yourself, son. Eah person in the world has their own personal battles. You too. You need to take courage and strength, even your family. Are you going to quit for them?"

"I don't know…"

"Remember child, you have the power to conquer your fear and your battles because of the faith and love in you. And you know where it all came from."

However, Lincoln is unresponsive but conscious from that fact, presumably since he knows the answer to the spirit's query.

"And let me tell you something. Victory is here. Your family is redeemed. Your sister is witnessing tranquility. Your parents are dwelling in safe haven. And the girl you saved is loved. All you need is to keep fighting."

"But what I must do?"

"Keep fighting the Wilkes. He will come back. So be ready."

"But where I must go?"

"You still have your orbs?"

Lincoln then shows the orbs to levitating apparition.

"Splendid. Travel down ten miles from where you are. You will witness a crater. And on the center of it, you will find a rope. Climb towards the top, taking the orbs with you. There, you will see the place you are seeking."

"Home?"

Then the spirits nods in response. "But take heed from the perils out there, especially from the Wilkes."

"Can't you be with me? Or transport me there?"

"Child, I am always with you." The spirit then stretches out an arm and taps on Lincoln's chest as a breastplate forms around it. The spirits also casts a helmet from Lincoln's head and a pair of gold-plated solider footwear for his feet. "Take faith. Take courage, for you are more than a conqueror."

"I just don't really understand why you put me in this journey."

"You will. And then you will know why your sisters became your sisters, and how you love them despite being them."

This places Lincoln into thinking of what the spirit all meant. He is still inquisitive of the sudden appearance of the apparition on such a late notice. But he finds it made all clear when it said, "I am always with you."

"Be grateful of the love you had since the day you were born. You lived it. Fight for it."

"But I still don't understand. I have a lot of questions that I don't if I can move on…" But just like that, the spirit has vanished from Lincoln's sight. The 11-year-old tries to search for him to see no absolute sign of it.

Lincoln then suddenly hears screeching commission from the hollow sky. He sees a hole being opened up to reveal the Wilkes in its full eight-limbed menace. Seeing the equipped lad, the demonic entity hurtles towards him like a gigantic spider. From its snout, it sends out a horde of black wisps.

Seeing their large number, Lincoln flees away from the scene and cowers in a pile of rubble. He takes deep breaths to calm himself down and think of a strategy to fend off his demonic rival. But him seeing no chance to fight off a demonic army, the sword suddenly illuminates from the abysmal darkness. This gives Lincoln more courage and determination to fight off the Wilkes. And just as he increases his faith and courage, the sword gradually gets brighter and brighter until the light becomes lethal against the wisps. Realizing this, Lincoln boldly charges to the assaulting wisps.

"This is for you, guys!" Lincoln cries out courageously as he strikes a wisp in the heart.

* * *

Unexpectedly, at the same time back in the hospital, Lincoln (who recently went back to the ICU after an awful day with the Loud sisters) shudders from receiving a spark from his past memories, specifically the time where he presented the "realistic" sibling family picture as an anniversary gift for his parents. In effect, the heart rate monitor, which shows an increase of pulse rate on Lincoln, beeps to alert the doctors.

"Lincoln, are you alright?" Dr. Benedict asks.

"Yeah, I am fine," Lincoln answers straightly, "I just…suddenly throbbed. Something of a…neural imagery that came across my hippocampus."

"What was it?" the doctor inquires of the boy patient, to which he explains bit for bit.

* * *

But back at Lincoln's sisters, they are still grieving about their brother's harsh scolds at them. Each tries to hold up their tears from such a severe heartbreak. But none of them can keep up with the rejection.

"I don't know. I don't know if Lincoln wants us anymore," Lana tearfully says.

"Don't say that, dudette. Lincoln just forgets…" Luna tries to explain but her tears hinder her from finishing her words, prompting her to embrace Luan.

"I don't want Lincoln to end up like that," Leni utters sorrowfully.

"Hey guys, this feeling just bugs me. I need a hug," Lola wails as reaches out to Lana for an embrace, followed by Luna, Leni and Luan.

Lucy tries to also pacify Lily from crying after the latter heard Lincoln shouting at them for the first time. "Lily, please calm down. Please!"

"Lily, Lincoln did not mean it. I promise," Lynn helps along with sympathizing but Lily keeps on crying. The two roommates then comfort Lily by rocking her to sleep. "Lucy, do you think we'll lose Lincoln?"

"Lynn, please!" Lucy insists. She suddenly falls to her knees in sheer grief.

Lynn tries to pick her up back to her seat and comforts her. Lucy then leans to her older sister's shoulders, wiping her tears there. All of the sisters are definitely unsure of what to make of the situation. Thus, Lynn can only resort to comforting each other. "I am sorry. I don't want to lose hope. I don't know what to do."

As for Lisa, she separates from her sister and rests on the other waiting area to hide her vulnerability. Unfortunately, in the same hall, Lisa happens to view a mother comforting her 4-year-old by her lap.

"Mommy, will I die?" the boy asks.

Tearfully, the mother assures, "Don't say that son. You will not die. You are going to live. You are going to see the sun rise, see the sun go down, and even the stars shine."

"But I think I heard bad news."

"It's mommy's job to take care of the bad news. And I promise, you will live. I know you will." In reality, the mother recently learned that the boy was diagnosed with typhoid fever. As she waits for the final results, she tries her best to hide her grief, for the boy not to feel down about his unknowledgeable condition. Rocking the son to sleep, the mother sings this song as a lullaby for her son.

 _Amazing grace, how sweet the sound_  
 _That saved a wretch like me_  
 _I once was lost but now am found_  
 _Was blind but now I see_

The mother's voice is so sweet and sincere that Lisa cannot help but slowly shed her tears, just thinking about what the family went through for the past few days. Every word is a heartening sentiment of empathy and love.

 _Twas grace that taught my heart to fear_  
 _And grace my fears relieved_  
 _How precious did that grace appear_  
 _The hour I first believed_

The mother strokes the locks of her son's hair, then massages his back, as the son slowly closes his eyes and firmly rests on her lap. Tears drive from the mother's eyes, just thinking about her son's terminal sickness. She is uncertain of what to do next for her son's sickness. But on her heart, she lays all her hopelessness through lullaby to the One.

 _Through many dangers, toils and snares,_  
 _I have already come;_  
 _'Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,_  
 _And grace will lead me home._

As Lisa subtly listens to the tune of the mother's lullaby and slowly sheds tears, the events surrounding Lincoln's case start to unfold. Lori approaches the girl for the second time and invests her given moments to befriend her. The girl, on the other hand, breaks into tears and leans herself to Lori. The latter then accepts her in her embrace.

 _The Lord has promised good to me,_  
 _His Word my hope secures;_  
 _He will my Shield and Portion be,_  
 _As long as life endures._

Mr. Loud finally gets a CCTV file photo of Lincoln rescuing the girl and getting himself run over by a passing car. The image itself brings more devastation for the Loud patriarch. Meanwhile, Mrs. Loud reaches out to the owner of the passing car in the police precinct and sympathizes with him. She eventually reaches an agreement with him to resolve the charges.

 _My chains are gone_  
 _I've been set free_  
 _My God, my Savior has ransomed me_  
 _And like a flood His mercy reigns_  
 _Unending love, amazing grace_

Dr. Benedict gives a shocking news to the Loud sisters about the latest findings of Lincoln's amnesia. But on his face comes a glimmer of hope but a doubt within. Even still, the sisters wipe their tears to hear of the news.

 _The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,_  
 _The sun forbear to shine;_  
 _But God, who called me here below,_  
 _Will be forever mine._

And internally, Lincoln readies in a stance as an army of wisps hurtles to his position. With his sword and shield, he confronts the army and the Wilkes itself.

There is more than what meets the eye, but there will always be light in the darkness.


	7. Chapter 7

One step at a time. One faith to carry your burdens to the finish line. One love that binds all.

At the hospital, Dr. Benedict reports the Louds (particularly Leni, Luna, Luan, Lynn, Lucy, Lola, Lana and Lily) to his post for updates about Lincoln's diagnosis. Since no adult or guardian is around to represent on their behalf, Luna takes charge to answer for the family.

"Okay Louds, what news do you want to hear, good or bad?" Dr. Benedict asks the Loud children.

"We had enough bad moments for today, doc," Luna answers, "Might as well swallow the bad vibes so the good ones can last."

"Right. Without getting too complicated, bad news is, with Lincoln's brain in total motor function, his new form of thinking might affect the recollection of his olden memories. New developments show that Lincoln might have more stimulation on receiving new memories than in recollecting older ones. We are trying our best to balance his memory procurement. So, stand by for that."

Then Lola suddenly erupts, "But what's the good news?!"

"Well, the good news is we are seeing signs of recovery from Lincoln," the neurologist reports; thus giving the Loud children a sense of hope. "He did recall some memories. We were able to pick up his abrupt utter of words, and declare from observations that they are manifestations of his memories."

"Doc, does this mean…?" Luna asks.

"Yes, it is not too late for you brother." And just as the doctor announces that, the Loud children celebrate in dance and in triumph out of hope to redeem their brother. It can be told from the random confetti and balloons falling over them.

"Hold on, kids. Hold on," Dr. Benedict calms the family down.

"What do you mean, doc?" Lynn replies in glee, "Lincoln's recovering!"

"Yeah!" the girls shout joyfully.

"I know, I know. But let me finish," Dr. Benedict implies to them. "We can help recover his memories, but we need your cooperation."

"But doc, you saw what we did," Lana reminds him.

"I know that, but I have faith in you girls. But we need to do this systematically. So as to avoid any friction Lincoln might gain from you." The girls then settle down and lend their ears to the doctor's instructions. "Alright, here's what you do. Search in your house for any sentimental item that Lincoln might have had to an important memory. Souvenirs, gifts, knickknacks or other stuff. As long as they hold a sentimental value to Lincoln. That way, we can salvage a memory."

"We can do that doc," Luna says, "Right guys?"

Then the Loud children holler collectively, "Yes!"

"Yey! We're gonna save memory!" Leni follows along.

With that, they head out of Dr. Benedict's clinic and race to the exit and en route to their house.

"Okay, what's the next plan?" Lynn asks.

"We need to grab all of Lincoln's useful stuff. Then we'll bring them to him," Luna exposits.

"Great, but how would we know if one holds a memory from Lincoln," Lana asks.

"I guess we have to find out," Luna affirms.

"So, it's a walk to memory lane. Hehehe. Get it?" Luan reacts.

Abruptly, Lola addresses something, "Yeah, but one thing we need to find out: how do we get back home since Lori's out? And where's Lisa?"

"Yeah, you're right. Where is Lisa?" Lynn replies.

"I thought Lisa was at the room with us," Leni recalls.

"Uhmm she was not, Leni," Lana reminds her.

"No, I mean the other room, where she listened to that mom singing a lullaby to that kid of hers," the 16-year-old entails. "Or was it scene from a movie I saw?"

"Good, Leni. You could search for Lisa if that's the case," Lola suggests, "But how will we get home?"

"Let me call for this case," Luna says, then she calls Lori by the phone. Leni also goes back to the halls of the hospital to search for Lisa.

* * *

Speaking of which, Lisa is still watching the mother rocking her son to sleep. As she hums him "Amazing Grace", she begins to pat her son on the back and then wipe that little amount of sweat on his skin. Slowly, her toddler son curls on her arms for comfort. At that way, the mother kisses her son on his forehead.

From this sight, the heart-warmed Lisa approaches the mother. "That's some unprecedented courage you have exhibited to your ailing offspring. I commend of your maternal efforts."

The mother then hears the rather complex compliment coming from the pint-sized Lisa. "Oh hello there. What's your name?"

"Lisa Marie Loud is the name. Do not to expound my backstory," Lisa replies, "I just want to express my salute to the indistinguishable endeavors you have exhibited to your beloved progeny."

"Uhmm what now?" the mother asks for clarity.

"I like to say that I admire the care you have shown to your son."

"Oh, thank you."

"I can see from the expressions of your facial framework that you have to face the harsh reality of your son's diagnosis. I just want to want to say that with science, hope is not lost."

"Thanks, I guess? By the way, are you with someone?"

"I am with my sisters."

"Oh, where they are?"

"At the ICU. We recently got off from horrific news from our brother…" And at that point, Lisa begins to feel emotions, something that is unlikely for the monotonous but superficial 4-year-old genius. Then again, this is a girl who reacted on the news of a girl having a crush on Lincoln and cried over Lincoln's narration of Mr. Grouse's backstory. But even then, this is something different. Her face heats up. Her throat starts to choke. And her eyes start to water. "We tried our best to get him back, but we couldn't. Maybe he's Lincoln no more."

"Oh, are you okay?" the mother asks the grieving Lisa.

But Lisa keeps on crying uncontrollably and uncharacteristically. She felt the same way after she heard of Mr. Grouse's backstory. But this feels genuine, for the mother's part.

She then places her sleeping son on the seat beside and lays him down with a pillow, and she approaches and gives her a warm embrace. Without hesitating or thinking, Lisa embraces back as she laments more.

The mother then pats Lisa's back in the same manner to what she did to her son. She keeps patting until Lisa calms down from her sorrows. "It's okay there. You know, bad things will come. It will always come. There's no stopping that. Not even science or medicine can stop that. But you know what, it takes heart and soul to overcome them."

"But I've always been a product of advancing sciences and modern medicine," Lisa states as she wipes of her tears. "How would that apply to me?"

"Even scientists, as little as you, need it," the mother assures. She then massages Lisa's nape to her lower back to calm her evenly.

"May I sit her with you, while I wait for my sisters?"

"Oh, sure. You may. Then we can talk about more about ourselves."

Lisa finally smiles about that.

* * *

For Lori, she recently finished her first confrontation with the scorned Audrey. After the latter's sudden breakdown, Lori spent the entire time trying to console her. She may want to bring up Lincoln's case out of pressure. But she decides to take time establishing a relationship with Audrey through consolation, even if it takes toll of her patience.

"Well, got literally nothing," Lori reports to Mrs. Johnson as she glances back at the girl in question. "But there was something that happened. I hope she'll be more open."

"She will. Time will tell, but she will soon," Mrs. Johnson assures.

"Yeah," Lori agrees.

"Hey, thank you for being with us, or coming for her. It such a brave thing you did."

"Thank you, Mrs. Johnson."

"Well, up for coffee or muffin? We have at the lounge."

"No thanks, I'll just get home."

But as she is about to walk out of the room, Lori turns back to Audrey and admits to her, "Hey, I know we got off on the wrong foot. But I just want you to know that I wish to restart things tomorrow. Same time. Maybe I could bring some snacks if you want. Croissants, sandwiches, fruits, anything." Lori is expecting a response but her attempts are futile. "Okay, well, I'll just see you tomorrow."

However, as Lori prepares to leave, Audrey snappishly utters, "Apple slices."

"Come again?" Lori asks back.

"Apple slices. I like some…apple slices."

"Great. I will bring some apple slices. Perhaps hazelnut or strawberry dipping as well. And we could talk along the way. Okay?" The look on Audrey's face firmly assures to Lori that things would go smoothly for them. Having claimed that, she leaves the school. "Well, see you tomorrow. I can't wait to meet you again."

Before Lori steps on the van, she receives a call from her mom. She answers immediately. "Hey mom! How's it going there?"

" _Fine, it's utter chaos here,_ " Rita replies from the phone, " _We're getting a lot from Lincoln's case. Piece by piece, in fact. I talked to the driver, and he agreed to cover for Lincoln's injuries. But how are you? How's the girl you talked to?_ "

"It's fine. Well, I wouldn't call it literally at first glance," Lori replies, "But I will try. I will try to resolve matters with her. I am just afraid about her."

" _What do you mean?_ "

"Well, she's…uhmm…"

From the silence and the dead air that came along, Rita gets the picture. " _I see. Don't worry about it, sweetie. Just take some time with her. She'll get more comfortable with you sooner._ "

"You really think I can do this?"

"Lori, you're the eldest among your sisters. You are the one they can count on. And I think it is time for you that you know your responsibilities. We believe in you."

From the words from her mother, Lori ponders on them. She has nothing to be against them, for she knows it is the truth. With that realization, the 17-year-old teenager bears them genuinely like a badge. "Okay."

" _Good. Thanks sweetie. Now I want you to make tonight's dinner. Your dad and I might take all night to handle the papers here._ "

"Okay mom."

"Thank you, sweetie. I love you. So does Lincoln."

"I know. Love you too."

And from there, their phone conversation ends. And Lori gets in Vanzilla and drives back home.

* * *

But from the optimistic turnarounds from Lincoln's family, there goes as well with Lincoln's situation. Previously, he fought the scathing wisps.

But rubble was around on the surface of where Lincoln fought them. The terrain is still obscure. The space above remains cold and stagnant. And from every dirt to every mountainous landscape, the rest of the scenery is bleak.

Out of the wreckage, piled to a peak, Lincoln punches though the rocks and gets up from the rubble. He is all covered in bruises and wounds from charging against the wisps. He picks up his sword (which has its blade chipped on its edges) and shield (which got punctured on the middle, and carries them away, along with the dented orbs, from where he is.

Feeling the weight from his injuries and his exhaustion, the 11-year-old rests on a rock. He starts to make fire to fend off from the cold, made possible with the cloth lining on the handle of his sword.

But as one spark comes up from rubbing two rocks, it never ignites. He then places the cloth between the two rocks and keeps on rubbing until he accidentally cuts his finger. However, heat emanates from the cloth, and Lincoln blows on it for the fire to keep growing. As it manifests, he throws it to a pile of rocks.

With no food or shelter or any accessible instance for help, Lincoln rests near the fire. Eventually, he rests.

Suddenly, the fire morphs in to a light wisp, but not the ones that Lincoln tried to fend off, and blazes to the air, inadvertently burning Lincoln's arm in the process. "Hey! What…is that the fire?"

He chases the blaze, as it leads him to a nearby peak. He trudges through the sharp rocks of the mountain and reaches to the top.

The blaze starts to illuminate the environs of the mountain, which turn out to be a gigantic crater, and flies to a dark portal at the center. More rock-strewn terrain surrounds the crater. But in the center of it, interspersed with a glowing radiance, is a rope leading to the portal to the top. There lie the promises that were made to him by the spirit.

"I can't believe I am near!" Lincoln utters, then shouts for victory.

At this point, Lincoln is assured that he can be able to rescue himself in no time. The dangers might be there, but he is confident of what is to come. And so is his family.


	8. Chapter 8

At the height of hope, the light draws near. At the height of fear, the darkness looms closer. But faith can withstand hope over fear. And as hope springs, the faith is tested.

After going roaming around the hospital, in search of her little sister, Leni spots Lisa listening to the mother, who is reading a storybook to her.

"Lisa! Lisa!" Leni calls her. Lisa and the mother notice her. "We have to."

"Oh, my family has to go," Lisa remarks.

"Okay. It's a pleasure meeting you, Lisa," the mother says.

"Appreciated it," Lisa replies, "Will I be able to see you again?"

"I'll be with my son, here," the mother confirms, "It's a daily checkup till we got the results. So, hopefully…"

"It's a privilege to get immersed with your maternal life," Lisa declares and reaches out her hand to her for a heartwarming handshake.

After that, the Louds rush back to the house and starts sorting all the items they know that has a sentimental value for Lincoln. The search becomes a lot trickier for the kids as they gather all random material that they think Lincoln uses a lot.

"How we supposed to know if each of these stuff can make Lincoln remember?" Lynn addresses.

"Well, if we think they are something that Lincoln used, probably," Luna unsurely replies.

"Hey guys! I found a token in the couch!" Lana announces.

"Uhh…so? What's the token for in this situation?" Lola questions her twin sister.

"Lincoln and I would always search for coins in the couch. But it's always this baby that we got," Lana recalls, "We thought of hiding it back for kicks."

"Wow, that must have token us a while for you to trick us. Hahaha! Get it!" Luan jokes, prompting the rest of the sisters to groan.

"Actually Lana, that's good," Luna suggests, "Dudes, I got it. We have to bring stuff that we shared to Lincoln. Then maybe, Lincoln might remember us."

Lola then brings up, while addressing directly to Lisa, "I don't know if science can back this up. But this maybe the craziest idea I ever heard." But, in a sudden change in tone, she encourages, "Let's do it!"

"It's against nature that I have to say this, but I agree with Lola here," Lucy reacts.

And at that signal, the sisters search from the items that they shared to Lincoln. Luna and Lola search on the kitchen and in the garage. Luan and Leni search in their rooms. Lucy searches in the attic. And Lynn and Lana take their search on the backyard.

Leni then has Luna check one item that she spots. "Hey Luna! How about this scarf? I used it at the time when I dressed up for Lincoln's go cart lessons. It helped me drive a go cart." She is indeed referring to the time when Lincoln and the sisters (except for Lori) assisted Leni on her driving lessons.

"That's good! Leave it to me and let's search for more," Luna approves. "Come on dudettes! Let's keep it coming!"

* * *

Meanwhile, Lisa takes her own search privately in her bedroom. Though, she is not alone as Lily spots her entering their crib. Lily just expresses her bigger sister's entry with gibberish words.

"Shhh Lily! I need to concentrate," Lisa requests. "Alright, if I have to recall items that become associated with Lincoln's cognitive functions, what would they be?" As she digs in to her own memory, Lisa finds a hard time recollecting her personal memories from her own knowledge. "Ah-ah! I may extract the personal memories and store them in a software, by the use of a memory scanner. But that would be hazardous to the memory recall…" Just dictating that word prompts Lisa to have an idea. "Wait…hazardous…"

Just at that note, Lisa plays "On the Nature of Daylight" by Max Richter to soothe her brain functions and help her recall personal memories with Lincoln that she discarded. This is to help her find the items that she used for Lincoln, or Lincoln used. But deeper on her intellect, she wishes to stay calm after her fateful encounter with the mother in the hospital, which really stirred her intact emotions. At a breath from her lungs, she lets the music fill up the room, as the course of events unfold for Lincoln's case.

* * *

It has never been easy for the conscious soul of Lincoln to trek through the rocky terrain to get to the midpoint where the rope is hanging to lead him to the core center of his memories. The whole terrain around him has a resemblance of a meteor crater, with only the illuminating rope to serve as his light. While this may be an easy journey, the vastness of the gravel landscape and the immensity of the dark void hovering above him draws out the unhinged spectacle of one's personal journey. Nevertheless, once he loads the orbs on his shoulder, buckles his belt, gears up his breastplate, puts on his shoes, carries his shield wears his helmet and prepares his sword, Lincoln is ready to go.

But right at the moment he dashes to the center, ethereal claws emerge from the ground and grab Lincoln by the feet. Their mighty clutches are enough to drop him to ground. Because of that, his sword slips from his hand. Lincoln witness the dark clutches of the emerging spirits. He knows that these minions are led by the evil spirit Wilkes. Knowing that, he tries to fend them off from head to foot, to no avail. If only he could reach his sword that is two paces on his left side. The dark spirits continue to emerge and hold Lincoln captive limb to limb.

But one thing is for sure: he can only rely to the Spirit that guided him on his journey.

Right at that moment, the Loud sisters – with the exception of Lisa and Lori – rush to the hospital, bringing with them the items that they had gathered. They are in faith and positivity that these items will give a cognitive reaction to Lincoln.

Dr. Benedict leads them to the ICU room where Lincoln is incarcerated, where the sisters see their brother placed with a halo cervical neck brace. He is almost motionless at bed, with his arms and legs encased in a cast, and can only use his eyes to move. The neurologist reveals that Lincoln's body will have to remain rested from the previous mishaps until physical examination will take place. But he attests they can have him undergo examination with monitoring his motor and cognitive responses.

With that, he designates a table over his chest, and the sisters prepare the items that they plan to show to their dear brother. Leni hands over wool sweater that she sewed for him. Luna contributes with a Smooch souvenir. Luan gives out her magic hat. Lynn bequeaths a baseball that Lincoln was able to catch during a live game. Lucy brings out the comic book that she drew for Lincoln. Lola adds the yearbook that he and Clyde contributed to the pile. Lana selects her toy wrench to the pile. And Lily throws in her other blanket. Luna however notices the prominent absence of Lisa in the group. She searches her from among her sisters but finds her absent. She worries about this fact. Nevertheless, Dr. Benedict recognizes neural activity from the EEG monitor, though he classifies them as insignificant.

As for Lisa, she is still at home, continuously contemplating at what item she can contribute while "On the Nature of Daylight" occupies her senses. She already sets boundaries as to what item she can bring, since most of the items she had association with her big brother are either radioactive or destructive. But basing on her findings, she is most likely to have given up. But being the determined scholar that she is, Lisa never resorts to that option. So, she keeps searching until she finds the perfect item: a toy beaker that Lincoln gave to her as part of a kiddie chemistry set.

With this overwhelming discovery, the young genius rushes from the house and towards the hospital. It is kind of sudden for her to do such a thing when she avoids oncoming pedestrians and moving cars. Speaking of the latter, a van comes right in front of her but stops immediately. Lisa recognizes this to be Vanzilla. And lo and behold comes Lori out of the driver's seat. Near grief comes into her eyes when she initially thought that she crashes into her sister. But thankfully for that, she embraces her completely. It was a difficult time for Lori. And one embrace is what she needed to soothe her fears.

Feeling the empathy, Lisa embraces her back as the two take a moment of tender embrace.

But the dark clouds loom in. Rain will surely come in any moment. With that, the other occupant of the van pulls out her window and signals Lori. Lisa sees that the girl is actually Audrey, the one person Lori must investigate upon. The 4-year-old easily deduces this from her frail eyes and dark hood. But more than that, she now sees a worried soul in front of her.

As the first raindrop falls, Lori brings Lisa to the van, and drives them back to the hospital. When they arrive, the three rush to the emergency, and wait from the door to the neurology area to see the rest of the sisters witness the doctor placing the items in front of Lincoln. Silently, the three join their sisters, and Lori hands over Lisa's item to Dr. Benedict.

When the neurologist places the Lisa's item next, it triggers for a mild neural reaction. But in the midst of all that, seeing his sisters stimulates more for the motor functions to pick up. And the gravest of all comes when he sees Audrey with them.

As a result, Lincoln regains his strength and emerges from the swarming clutches of the evil spirits. He grabs his sword and strikes each and every grasp from the spirits. With reinvigoration now running in his blood, he hurries to the glowing rope and battles the oncoming minions from the Wilkes.


	9. Chapter 9

The aftermath is crystal clear. Faith is growing among the family. But it does not mean that the obstacles would not get in the way of their journey to recovery.

The day after a successful examination of stimulating the injured boy's cognition, the doctors ready for another procedure to test Lincoln. One notable thing that the boy sees as he wakes up to witness this is the absence of Dr. Benedict. Lincoln asks this to a nearby nurse who turns out to be new, "Excuse me. Nurse, where's Dr. Benedict? He is always the person I see when I wake up."

The doctor, a young one and who is of Korean decent, answers, "Oooh, you're awake, my dear. Dr. Benedict just left town to check out a patient in New York. But he will be coming two days from now."

"So, how about the procedures that he said?" he curiously asks.

"Oh, we'll continue the procedure as planned. And I'll be your neurologist for the moment," the doctor says.

"Right, it's kind of unsettling as a new neurologist."

"Oh, where are my manners? Hi, I'm Dr. Wong. You may call me Doc Annie or simply Annie." She then corrects herself awkwardly, "Or maybe just Annie 'cause somehow my friend confuse me with another colleague who has a name similar to mine, or was it a cartoon character…"

"Cut to the chase, ma'am. Let's go with the procedure," Lincoln insists.

"Don't you want to nourish yourself?" the doctor asks, "We ready breakfast for you."

"No ma'am. I just need to get this procedure done before I move on to my next line of study. Doc Benedict let me read his books on neurology and mental health. Next, he will give me to the book behind the Higgs boson." Lincoln then gleefully shares to the new doctor, "You know? The particle that was made after scientists at the CERN collided two particles, and it had non-zero constant values in an existing vacuum state. It is really mind-boggling on how they can pull off with that certain collision on an amount of force."

"That's great to hear. I am sure you'll have more the time and energy for that. But first, why don't we have our breakfast for now?"

"Breakfast is optional. Need food for thought."

"Breakfast engages mental activity. Come on. It's your favorite – steamed beef with broccoli, an apple, wheat bread and milk."

Seeing that the doctor outsmarted him, Lincoln lets the doctor plead. But he eventually agrees to take breakfast. Dr. Wong sets up a tray above his abdomen and lays his meals before him. "How about you?"

"I'll just wait for you. And monitor you," the doctor replies.

"Oh. Doc Benedict usually goes to his dugout to discuss my findings with the other neurologists. I can see it from the window. But he usually eats his meals outside."

"Kind of…peculiar that you know such stuff."

"He tells me every time. Says that it stimulates the mind to help the memory growth."

"Yes, and I mean the sharp observations. What else do you know?"

As he is feeding himself with the braised beef, Lincoln relays his observations, "I just usually spot the tiny details from what I am seeing. I learned that the nurse with the gray hair maybe of Indian descent because I heard him chat with the nurse with glasses. I am guessing that nurse must be a fresh graduate since she looks like 20. I also meet the other nurse, Imelda, who always serves the meals and returns the trays. I noticed from her face that she came off stressed from tending patients. We always call her 'Lunch Lady Imelda' because of her duty."

Curious about this learning behavior upon his observations, Dr. Wong asks, "Tell me what else you picked? The tiny details."

"Oh, there are a lot. This is actually fun, just observing little details. It traces to the core traits of an individual. I get to learn those bits from the psychology books from Dr. Benedict."

"And you read whatever he gives to you?"

"Well, not just him. I asked for more books. So, the other doctors lend me their books. They say it's a procedure to help me procure my memory processing. It kind of works."

"Right…well, I'll just look through that later."

Lincoln then notices how the Korean neurologist is new to this procedure, or at least on Lincoln's case. "You're not from around here, are you?"

"That is correct. I am a new hire. Assistant to Dr. Benedict, if that's all you need to know."

"Just as I thought. My deductions are correct."

"Well, that's all you need to know, besides the fact I will be supervising your examinations temporarily." Dr. Wong then rearranges her clipboard and conducts her first set of observations to Lincoln. "So, tell me how you feel…the way you think."

With that, Lincoln begins to share his inner thoughts and thought processes.

* * *

At the same time, the internal battle of the normal Lincoln goes on as he crosses the rocky terrain and stumbles upon the glowing rope that leads to his inner consciousness. The 11-year-old never knows what to expect as he gets to the top. Only that he trusts the Spirit for the helpful directions. He looks above to try to see what is above. But there is just an infinite rope dangled to the bright space above him.

Using his right hand, he grabs the rope. He has his left hand grab the upper part to gain leverage. Sensing the grip, he tries to pull himself upward, to no avail. He does it again, releasing his strength for the action. But he loses at it. At many times, he tries to pull himself up. But his countless efforts at gym class does not do him any favors.

After countless climbs, he stops for a while and rests below. He takes off his armor, since he felt the weight coming from them. His arsenal indeed contributes to the weight. His belt, his breastplate, his footwear, his shield, his helmet, his sword and the orbs, they carry the weight. So, it would be tricky for Lincoln to carry all of them to the top.

"Such a distance there. It would take a miracle to get up there," Lincoln utters to himself.

* * *

Simultaneously, the real-life physical Lincoln is continually being questioned by Dr. Wong of his condition.

"So Lincoln, what have you been thinking so far? Are you reminded of something? Some events that happened that you can't explain?" the doctor asks. "Some…flashes of you…somewhere else."

"Guess so," Lincoln responds softly. "It is kind of weird that some flashes of events transpired by those objects that Doc Benedict showed me yesterday."

"Well, they are from your family. Your true family," Dr. Wong says sincerely.

"I never thought that I would have an actual family before," Lincoln comments from the bottom of his current intellectual thoughts. "Come to think of it, I never felt having one."

"But you do know what a family is?"

"Yes. The core of society. Where one being is developed from childbirth, until said being reaches the right amount of physical maturity to encounter other levels in society."

From his answer, Dr. Wong is astounded by those findings coming from the mouth of a young victim of retrograde amnesia who is gaining more memory from his current state than his past state. "Well, I see you did your…assignment…"

As the doctor places those findings on a binder, Lincoln asks this, "How about you? Do you have a family? Do you know what is it like to have a family?"

The doctor finds this question uncanny and unsettling. "Lincoln, that sounds too personal. But, to be brief, I am a mother of two. I have a good husband. And we have a productive life. Simple as that."

"What are your kids like?"

Just by that question, the doctor is left speechless. She tries her best to look professional. However, her feelings start to below from her face. Clearly, with her heavy thoughts that she rubs the moist from her eyes. She takes off her glass and wipes her eyes. Slowly, the memories of her children return to her. But forcefully, she ends the examination. "Lincoln, I think it's best we continue later. Thank you Lincoln for this session."

But Lincoln pleads, "Come on, doc. Tell me."

Dr. Wong then confronts him about that, "You're a good boy Lincoln. You truly are. But we have to set boundaries on your treatment. So see you later." At the rampant departure, Lincoln is kind of troubled and speechless of what to think of the situation. Suddenly, the doctor walks back, "But I promise, stories later."

Hearing that, Lincoln is happy.

* * *

But at the same time, the internal Lincoln feels the ground trembling, the rocks shaking and the skies shifting. The ground tremors on an up-and-down motion, as the intensity escalates. In one big push, the ground descends a few feet as if a sinkhole is occurring. Lincoln immediately clings to the rope as the land continues to push itself down. The tremor goes on for a few minutes till it stops in dead silence.

The young warrior opens his eyes to see the ground five feet below him. "AAAHHHH!" he screams from the sudden height. He grasps on the rope tightly, not wanting to quick on his journey.

Nevertheless, the only choice he has is to climb up. But that did not live up as another dark sprite emerges from above, making Lincoln let go of the rope and drop the spot where his belongings are.

"Ouch! Should have braced for impact," he utters to himself.

However, the dark spirit flies directly to his location and aims to attack him. Quickly, Lincoln draws his sword and awaits to slay the sprite to oblivion. However, his strike proves to be strong for him to handle. That is proven with one chip from the blade being cleansed by the dark sprite's blood. He then wipes off his blade, before places it back to its scabbard.

While it may be a relief to slay one opponent, it is a catastrophe that Lincoln's only way out of the realm is five feet above him.

"What now?" he mutters.

How would he reach the top? And what does the trembling mean?


	10. Chapter 10

The next day, Lori takes Audrey to the mall for a pleasant bonding time. She treats her with fresh hot pretzels with peanut butter dip and iced tea, hoping she can respond. "Here you go. Treat's on me." But even as Lori offers her a pretzel meal, she is unable to accept. "It's on me. Go ahead."

Audrey lightly pushes the tray away from her. "Not into pretzels…"

"Well, I can give you curly fries or hotdogs. You want?"

Even with that inviting tone, the still guilt-ridden Audrey is too shy and guilty to accept. "Not really hungry. Thanks…"

"Well, what do you want?"

Afterwards, Audrey does not utter a word.

But that does not stop Lori from encouraging her. "Look Audrey, I know what happened, and I realized why it should let you feel that way. But look at me, I forgive you. And now, I want to be your friend. And I hope you can do the same. I hope you will." After that, she gives her time to absorb the aura around the mall while leaving her food exposed to the chilly temperatures. Lori has faith that Audrey might be open towards her, more than she was before.

Three minutes pass by, and with a deep breath, Audrey shares, "I actually want to try candy."

"You do?" Lori responds. "I love candy. My family loves candy. We buy candy literally all the time when we drop by at the mall. What's your favorite?"

Audrey then shakes her head. "None."

"You don't have a favorite?"

"No, I haven't tried candy. My dad doesn't allow candy at home."

"Ohh I see."

"I kind of want to try one. So I ask from my classmates. But they think I'm a freak, and they just left me aside and mock me like I was nothing."

"Oh. Sorry about that." Lori reaches her sympathetic tone to console to Audrey.

"There's nothing I can do about it. I'm a freak." She then buries her head to the table in self-pity.

But Lori holds her hand and comforts her. "Look, you're not a freak. Those kids, they don't literally know you. But you do. And you know you're not a freak. So why do you have to feel the way they treat you?"

Audrey is shaken by the philosophy that Lori throws at her. Though she makes a valid point, she finds it hard to swallow every word, especially with what she secretly faced at school. Because of that, the tumult of her emotions kicks in and climbs through her skin. But she feels the firmness of Lori's hand, and she soon feels secured. But she utters, "I don't know…"

Lori is left speechless. But her mind is left reflecting of how she matured as a teenager, from a mean and antsy sister to a responsible and loving one. "I tell you what, let's finish the food. We could go to the candy shop. My treat."

"You would do that?" she asks, to which Lori nods 'yes'. "But my dad told me not eat candies."

"In your house?"

"Yes."

"See. Just your house. But we're not in your house anymore. You can eat all the candy you want. What do you say?"

With that, Audrey faintly gives a beam at her since she has her reservations.

After they finish their food, the two head to the candy store and pick the best candy they could find. Chocolates, dragées, hard candies, jelly candies, licorice, marshmallows, marzipans, toffees, jelly beans, nougat bars, gumdrops, sour patches, it is on Lori to treat Audrey for a short time. Even if the latter kid has yet to genuinely smile about it, Lori genuinely offers to treat her new friend.

They then settle on the food court for Audrey to try each of the candy they bought. She tries the sour patches first.

"Go on. Help yourself," Lori tells her. "Just don't go too easy on the sweets. Just take it slow. And if you can't take them home, I'll take them home for you. And trust me, none of my sisters will find them. I promise that."

"You are sure close with your sisters," Audrey utters.

"Yes. Eleven of us. We look out for each other. We know we can be a mess a lot of times. But we work it out. This is why we look out for Lincoln because we love him."

Audrey takes a gulp from the sweets when she hears Lincoln's name. Not that her guilt kicks in but she does not know much of him. So, she asks, "Is he like…a good brother to you?"

"Yes, he is. He's the best brother we had, and I have. Well, he's literally our only brother. But that's beside the point. The point is Lincoln is so dedicated to us. Whenever we need help, he's there for us. And we're there for him. We would do everything to be there for him whenever he needs us."

Sooner as she feels Lori's plight, Audrey feels her guilt set in again. Probably it is because the emotional weight was there when Lori expresses her love for her little brother. Yet again, it makes her feel condemned about her actions. "Such a great person he is."

"Yeah…"

Suddenly, Lori's phone rings. She immediately answers, "Hello?"

The hospital answers from the other line, " _Good morning, is this Lori Loud?_ "

"This is she."

" _Hi. This is Dr. Wong. If you have time, we hope that you may drop by at the hospital and sign a few documents. We try to reach out your parents, but they are not responding to our calls._ "

"Sure, I can go there and sign on their behalf."

" _Good. We can also give you our latest findings of Lincoln's condition. It's almost unprecedented._ "

"So, does it mean it's good?"

" _We can assure you, Ms. Loud, that Lincoln is showing good motor skills upon therapy. And that he is keeping a good measure in accepting new memories._ "

"Well, that's good. I'll be right there with the rest." The call ends. "Come on, Audrey. We're going to see Lincoln!"

With that, Audrey takes their candy bags and follows Lori to the van.

* * *

Lori decides to tag along her sisters to see their brother. With that, before she starts the engine, she ends a united text to all of them. Immediately, they responded of going but requesting to be fetched from their destinations. Lori willingly responds.

"Audrey, stay here in the front. My sisters might be hopping on the back."

After Audrey moves to the front, Lori proceeds to fetch her sisters.

The first of which is Leni who just stepped out from her sewing workshop with a new woolen sweater that she made for Lincoln. The van arrives for her. "Hey Lori! Hey new girl!"

"Get in," Lori says.

As she does, Leni then shows the sweater that she made to her sister. "Check it out Lori. I plan to give this to Lincoln. Hope he likes it!"

Lori cannot help but point out one big mistake. "Uhmm Leni, it is **Get Well Soon** , not **Well Soon Get**."

"Oh. No wonder it sounded weird when I say it. Sounds like a Korean name." She then smiles, to which Lori does as well.

Afterwards, they fetch Luna and Luan from their school. Luna has her guitar.

"Hey dudes!" she greets them. "Luan and I just practiced a song for Lincoln." Luna then strums her guitar and sings, " _Be brave little one, make a wish for each sad little tear, hold your head up though no one is near, someone's waiting for you_ …"

Luan shares, "We actually had a song in mind but we couldn't get on rhyme. Hahaha. Get it?"

Afterwards, the girls hurtle to Lynn's whereabouts in the park. As she walks to the van, the athletic sister has a football on her hand. "Hey guys! I think Lincoln needs a little variety in sports. Hiya!" Sh then throws her football in the van, which ricochets around until Lori catches it.

"Maybe take it easy with Lincoln, Lynn," Lori says.

After that, they head to fetch Lucy at the funeral parlor.

When the goth sister boards the van, Luna asks, "Lucy, what are you doing in there?"

"It's not what you think," Lucy says. "I just visited a friend. And believe me, she is alive. I just asked her how I can cope with a brother who does not remember us. I just need help."

Upon hearing that, the girls comfort their little sister, with Luna and Luan giving her a hug.

"It's alright, sis," Luna assures. "We can do this together."

"Sigh…" Lucy utters.

"Yeah, nothing will stop us from saving Lincoln, not even the gravest threat. Hahaha! Get it?"

It goes on when they fetch Lola and Lana from their school, and Lisa from a city-based institute that specializes in cognitive medicine.

"Okay, all aboard! Lincoln, here we come!" Lori exclaims as they head to the hospital.

"Say Lola and Lana, what do you plan to show to Lincoln?" Leni asks.

"Well, Lola suggested that we do a ribbon dance together, but you know me," Lana answers.

Lola continues, "But considering Lana being with me, we just planned to show me our artwork." She then pulls out the effort that they have accomplished: a cardboard illustration of the Loud family using various pasta pieces as materials.

The sisters are kind of impressed with their artwork.

"Wow, this looks good, guys!" Leni praises them.

"Yeah, kudos to you, dudettes!" Luna adds.

"How were you able to get the pasta?" Lucy asks.

"Oh, we just got it from dad's cabinet," Lola proudly answers.

That gives a slight bad impression to the sisters.

"Oh," Lucy utters.

"Don't worry. I asked him," Lana clarifies.

"How about you, Lis?" Luna asks her genius of a sister.

"Well, I have been working on it extensively. That is why I do not have it physically. I shall let you biological matrons have initial knowledge on my findings," Lisa answers.

"Well, hope it's good," Luna says.

After a couple of bumps, they finally arrive in Lincoln's hospital. While the sisters excitedly grab their gifts and rush to the inside, Lori stays behind to assist Audrey in entering the premises as she is still guilt-ridden from the experience. She holds her hand and slowly they make their way inside.

The girls rush to the nurses' table.

"Hello! We're here for Lincoln Loud!" Luna tells them.

"He's our brother!" Leni adds.

The head nurses then gives a disappointing news, "I'm sorry girls, but the doctors would not allow visitors for Mr. Loud today."

The girls gasp.

"What?! Why?!" Lola asks.

"I'm sorry the matters are confidential," the nurse says.

"But he's our brother!" Lana tells the nurse.

Lisa meanwhile feels the need to sigh. However, as she turns her head, she spots a dozen scientists marching along the hall. She feels suspicious about this. Likewise, the 4-year-old scoots away from her sisters and follows them.

This leads her to a rarely passed part of the hospital where some obscure medicinal specialties are stationed, like pneumoencephalography, cholescintigraphy and sialography. The doctors head to a study room with an amphitheater-like format. Lisa quietly sneak in. And right on time, she witnesses something that she would never have thought of: a still ailing Lincoln formulating a complex formula on a whiteboard.


	11. Chapter 11

Back on Lincoln's deteriorating consciousness, the land mass erodes under him. He latches on to the rope for dear life, with the artillery on his back. The weight slowly becomes a hindrance as he tries to get a tight grip on the rope.

Little by little, he struggles to pull himself up. The warrior that he is, he takes aim on every pace, not minding the land eroding from below.

But a threat encroaches from above. Lincoln hears a haunting chant that echoes through the hollow halls. A swarm of ravens hovering from the endless sky swoop downward in a united V formation. This enables them to strike Lincoln from the rope like a gushing wave.

Lincoln then places his shield against them, making them swoop beyond the hollow atmosphere and maneuver for another direct attack at Lincoln.

They do this one more time, striking at his abdomen for him to let go.

But he is able to catch the glowing rope at an instant. The ravens try to peck him on the face, on his chest and on feet. Yet Lincoln intervenes with rustles from his sword. He tries to stab every passing fowl but their ability of flight allows them to dodge him.

With that, he comes up with an offensive towards the swarm. He twists his right on the rope and inspects for a tight grip. He hangs back to the glowing nylon to wait for the swarm to strike. And with precision to his balance, he readies his sword and his shield.

"This is it. No turning back. Whatever happens, I can make it."

Lincoln then leaps to the air and slays the attacking horde. They strike around his armor but Lincoln slices through those he comes across. His might and his faith never stops him.

* * *

But back to his external self, Lincoln is in the middle of solving a complex thermodynamics problem (involving a capacitor and its total current) when he gets a weird sensation in his head. His chalk breaks as he presses the sides of his head from the sensation.

"Lincoln, are you okay?" one doctor asks him.

Lincoln ignores his concern as he shrugs this off and continues writing down the thermodynamics solution. "Yes, I am fine."

"Okay, just tell us if you like to stop the procedure."

But the boy insists, "No, I want to solve this problem. It's just a little sting in my hippocampus."

The doctor then just goes along, "Okay, if you say so. Just tell us. Continue."

Lincoln proceeds.

Almost all of the doctors in attendance are amazed how a victim of retrograde amnesia was able to gauge this amount of knowledge and apply it during his therapy. Even Lisa who snuck in the room was amazed at Lincoln's viable intelligence. She could almost conclude that a person suffering from heavy concussion could not process acquiring information that fast. But there it goes, the antithesis of that is right in front of her.

"I can't believe that's Lincoln I see. I mean there would be approximately 6116 logical explanations about this discovery. But this…?" Through her thoughts, Lisa becomes conflicted if she should believe or not.

At that point, Lincoln writes down the numerical solution to the problem. "And that's how you obtain the maximum current through the switch S."

With that, the doctors give him a round of applause over his knowledge.

"Brilliant, Lincoln, brilliant!" one aged neurologist praises him.

"It is a pleasure as a man gifted with blessed intellect," he brags.

As he glances upon the applauding doctors, Lincoln spots Dr. Wong from behind. He can almost spot her wiping tears off her eyes but succumbs to clapping alongside the rest of the doctors. It is like Lincoln is intrigued of her display of affection that requires poignancy. He decides to check on her after the discussion.

In turn, he bows for his audience.

* * *

Meanwhile, his sisters wait on the lobby of the hospital to get access to their brother. Thirty minutes go by, and they start to get antsy in waiting. Leni slides her phone back and forth repeatedly. Luna clutches to her guitar as hospital personnel do not allow her to play along the corridor. Luan rocks Lily on her arms to sleep. Lynn and Lucy play tic-tac-toe. Lana inspects the chairs from underneath for wads of chewed bubblegum. And Lola stares at the clock mindlessly.

Gladly, no other visitor has step up in the area because the Louds have occupied all of the seats.

Though Lola's patience is taking its toll that she growls gradually. "WHY CAN'T THIS WAIT?! WE CAME HERE TO SEE OUR BIG BROTHER! AND WE END UP WAITING HERE!"

Immediately, the nurses shushes her.

"I'll keep my shushed if you keep our request!"

Right away, Lori, accompanied with Audrey, walks back to her sisters. "Okay, I just called mom and dad. They're on their way. Hopefully, they'll make a turn on this."

This causes for the siblings to cheer for this glimmer of hope. "Yey!"

"They'll show those doctors a thing or two!" Lynn Jr. expresses with boxing in the air.

"I don't think that's what they'll do," Leni reacts.

"Yeah, but doesn't it sound cool?"

Lisa walks back to the group, undetected. It is kind of opportune for her sisters to be unaware that she went off by herself to Lincoln's whereabouts. She would want to tell about how Lincoln was treated or how he became what he is now. But she keeps those haunting revelations to herself. She asks Lana, "What was the commotion from this posse?"

"Oh, mom and dad will drop by here to get us through so we can see Lincoln," Lana answers.

"Hardly a solution. But I hope parental authority would influence the personnel in this institution."

"I don't know what that means but I bet we are going in no time!"

* * *

Fast forward to later, and Lynn Sr. and Rita just arrive at the hospital after a hasty day in the insurance broker. They enter in a shouting match with the hospital staff, leaving the children the situation out of their control.

They can almost overhear their parents getting frustrated and annoyed with the repetitive excuses that the hospital gives to them.

"Do you think mom and dad will persuade them?" Lana asks Lori.

"I don't know. I literally don't know," she answers.

"Do you think this is my fault?" Audrey whispers to her.

"No, it's not. This does not involve you."

The sisters try to keep their hopes up, even though the nurses denies the Loud family for a visit to their beloved brother.

Rita tries to intervene with the staff, even calling the hospital administrator. A more laid-back Lynn Sr. looks back at his kids.

"So, dad, is it going good?" Leni asks.

"We're trying our best, honey," Lynn Sr. answers. "Unfortunately, they said that Lincoln's under observation. Of what, we ask. They didn't answer clearly."

"Observation?" Luna gasps.

"Not sure. But stay patient. We're trying to get us through," Lynn Sr. nervously assures.

But the sisters have already saved up their patience from being halted and told to wait by the lobby for answers. It is just unfortunate.

* * *

But back again to Lincoln, after the discussion, he is transported back to his room for lunch.

Dr. Wong arrives with his meal. She sees her patient back at the ICU with some nurses strapping the IV back at his hand. "How are we?" she asks me.

"A little bit better. Can't wait for today's meal!" he expresses. "After this, maybe I could skip my studies and watch Animal Planet."

"That's nice. Now here you go." Dr. Wong then offers him his lunch.

Retracing his thoughts later on about her, Lincoln asks, "Dr. Wong, do not wish to be rude but were you at the discussion a while ago?"

"I was."

"How was I doing?"

"Great. I think you did splendid with the thermodynamics problem."

"Well, thank you. I actually spotted on you from the seat above. And you were kind of…emotional."

Dr. Wong is struck by how he described her expression. It somehow hit right home, down to her most recent experience. She does not want to expose it to Lincoln, thinking about the doctor-patient confidentiality. But she maintains her professional attitude. "Emotional? How do you say so?"

"I saw you wiping your eyes. It might be for logical explanations like irritation to the eye or indistinguishable matter having entered on the surface of your cornea. Or must be the byproduct of lachrymation caused by personal cognitive recollection."

"You don't say?"

"But I lean more on my final deduction."

"How do you say so?"

"With the way your face looks."

"You have a very sharp observation, don't you, Lincoln?"

"So, can you tell me?"

"It's just nothing, Lincoln."

"I am just curious. Being a human being, I am receptive of human psychological compassion. And as a result, I am adhering to helping another being in need."

With the way he insists, Dr. Wong just freezes in place. Her throat runs dry and her hand slightly shakes. She is unwilling to sacrifice her dignity to appease her patient who is getting treatment and who is learning once more.

But Lincoln remains insistent, "You can tell me, doctor. If not, okay. Maybe hope we can watch Animal Planet together."

Dr. Wong then faces him, "I can accompany you for Animal Planet. I like that channel."

Lincoln then smiles genuinely. Even though this moment uplifts him, he is unaware about the dire consequences that are going internally and to his family.


	12. Chapter 12

The aftermath of the events run like this:

The hospital disallows the Louds from visiting Lincoln. The hospital administrator himself tells that unfortunate news to the Louds. Though they complain over the unfair treatment, after all their anticipation, the family eventually complies and walks home in worry and disappointment. Mr. and Mrs. Loud are very bothered with how their daughters will react to the course of events. To no surprise, they keep venting to the top of their lungs from the time they get back in the van till they arrive home.

Leni casts her sadness aside through knitting, but she cannot pull off another sweater. Luna tosses her guitar aside and slams her body to her bed. Luan, Lucy and Lana sit on the couch in sadness. Lynn brings out her punching bag and, venting, releases her stress through boxing the apparatus. Lola grunts loudly till she screams in her room. Lily cannot put herself to sleep. And Lisa opens her computer and browses through hospital records that are shared to her via a peer review system. The 4-year-old genius plans to extract information about the hospital's doings to poor Lincoln.

Lori meanwhile consoles Audrey, who feels that she has some responsibility with the reception. She disperses from the family to take Audrey home. As much as she wants to express her anger over their treatment, Lori struggles to keep calm of the events. She merely realizes her vital transition as a responsible sisterly figure to her beloved siblings.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in the hospital, the neurology department keeps Lincoln under observation after they discover a progress in his intelligence after his concussion. He consistently exhibits faster learning cognition and critical thinking skills. They maintain the rehabilitation process till he is ready for contact from anyone in his inner circle.

Alongside that, Lincoln bonds with Dr. Wong continually. Apart from his newfound intelligence, he also is responsive with psychological intellect and human emotions. And he mostly gains it from his interactions with Dr. Wong. But with balancing the professionalism and the maternal care, Dr. Wong continually accommodates to Lincoln's rehabilitation.

A balance of bleakness and hope transcends upon Lincoln's case. Sometimes, the girls wonder if they can save their brother or not. Thus, they ultimately fear that he will soon forget about them. But one thing is assured, the girls will soon see their brother, just not what they seemed.

Back at Lincoln and Dr. Wong, they just finished an entire marathon of _Crocodile Hunter_ shows on demand. Lincoln is largely impressed over the display of crocodile wildlife, apart from a nervous Dr. Wong.

"That was so cool with the way Steve Irwin maneuvers around that freshwater crocodile. Just blows the mind!" he expresses.

"He's really an expert," Dr. Wong replies.

"Oh boy! I wish I could meet him, then let him autograph my book on reptiles!"

"Sadly, he is not around…"

"What do you mean?"

"He's…" Wong then gestures the cutting head to Lincoln.

"Oh. That is kind of unfortunate. He really must be a respectable figure."

"He is. You should see more of his wildlife videos."

"Oh, that is a goal!"

Abruptly, Dr. Wong's phone beeps. It is a text message from her husband. "Okay. Well Lincoln, see you tomorrow."

"Wait, you're leaving now?"

"Why yes. I just ended my shift two hours ago. Just stayed with you to pass the time waiting."

"Well, at least that is helpful to get rid of the psychological phenomena known as ennui."

"Yes…okay, have to get back to my family."

"You sure have a great family."

"Yes."

"How many are you?"

Dr. Wong stops right there when a curious Lincoln brings up about her personal life. Trying to keep her composure as a temporary caretaker to Lincoln, she replies, "We can talk about this tomorrow, Lincoln."

"But I am just curious. I keep reading about the building blocks of society, and still trying to comprehend the absolute definition of a family. Will you help me?"

The nurse stands silent when he has her cornered and moved by his curiosity of learning about family. Among their observations, this hint was set aside, in favor of the progressing mental performance and sharp memory. But the doctors never consider the dark horse that is his emotions. Because of that, she answers him, "You already know about it, Lincoln. It's me, my husband and my two children."

"What are they like? How do you function as a well-defined unit? What are your offspring like? Do they possess a unique set of intelligence?"

That is where she finds a loss of words. She places her hand firmly on the door. It was never easy for her to answer that question.

"What's wrong?" Lincoln asks. "Did I said something offensive? If I did, I apologize."

"No, it's fine. It's good. You don't need to apologize."

"But what's going on? I can observe that you are under some distress that prevents you from reaching away from the door."

With a heavy breath to her lungs, Dr. Wong reveals everything, "You see, Lincoln, I lied about having children."

"What are you saying?"

"They…" Dr. Wong feels the dryness of her throat, reaching her voice. She almost in the brink of braking in tears. "They are not here with us."

"What do you mean?"

"They…are in heaven now. They're twins. Fraternal twins. We named them We used to have them in my womb but…something terrible has happened."

Seeing her break down in tears, Lincoln becomes attuned of how sorrow applies to a person. He soon understands her feelings and his in return. It is truly tragic for him to see that his caring doctor once had children of her own. It sets a transition to how he perceives people like her.

With that, he simply utters in despondency, "I'm sorry…"

Dr. Wong quickly wipes the tears from her eyes and takes heavy breaths. "It's fine, Lincoln. You don't need to be sorry. Bad things happens. But there's always hope. You are never sure when it will come, but it will come. And I did have hope."

Hearing that words of wisdom, Lincoln lends a smile.

The caring doctor then caresses him in the face, as if she is nurturing him as her own son. "You're so curious of things. But there's a lot for you to learn. Glad to be of service of you, Lincoln." She then embraces him by his head.

Lincoln is speechless at this gesture. Slowly getting it, he wraps his arms around her and leans more to her. He genuinely comprehends a thing called motherly love.

* * *

While that is going on, Lori guides Audrey back to her home. It is dead in the night that it will be wise to take her back before 9:00 PM.

Lori keeps her cool but still retains the seriousness in her face. However, Audrey feels guilty in every pressing minute.

They soon stop at the front of her house. Her humble abode reflects upon the poverty that Audrey secretly lives on. The door is in shambles with the scratches and the peeling paint. The walls are at pale hue. Several junks are stuffed in the garage with a broken door. The windows are open. And the lights are dim.

"Here we are," Lori says. "It's good to have you today."

As she is about to drop her hand, Lori feels the grip from Audrey's right hand. She senses her shaking, trembling and utterly upset.

"Hey, do you want to hang around out here for a while?"

Audrey then nods her head.

With that, she and Lori sit down by the sidewalk pavement. The neighborhood is entirely wrapped in the night's hue, magnifying a glorious view of the night sky.

"I used to take Lisa out to the park whenever there's news about a meteor shower or planets appearing like that. She knows that I like stargazing."

Audrey then shares, "I like stargazing too."

"Really? What do you like about it?"

"Peace. I find peace."

"Yeah. Literally peaceful."

"Sometimes, I sneak out of my window and climb on the roof to see the stars. My…stepdad wouldn't let me."

"You're stepdad?"

"Yes…"

"What happened to your parents?"

"They…"

Suddenly, her stepfather spots her outside and calls her from the inside. "Audrey, come inside now!"

"I'll be there!" she answers.

"NOW!"

"Wow. He's pretty harsh," Lori comments to herself.

Before she goes inside, Audrey embraces her. "Please don't leave me."

"I won't. Tomorrow, let's hang out. You and me."

With that assurance, Audrey embraces her once more.

Lori looks upon her and sees the looming dark image of Audrey's stepdad. From the bleak picture, she senses a dark backstory from the poor girl.

* * *

But back on Lincoln's consciousness, as the warrior boy quickly evades the swarming ravens, an army of vengeful demons converge below the glowing rope. He puts back his sword and prepares to climb in a quick pace.

The ravens pick them up and pile them in one place. Slowly they go as Lincoln tries to aim for the top. But they congregate in a faster pace until they form the beast that Lincoln fears the most.

"LINCOLN!" his menacing voice growls at him.

Lincoln glances upon the demon himself. The Wilkes. He has finally located him. And this time, he is powerful enough to take him down.

"I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS DAY TO COME."

He unleashes his deathly claws and strikes it at Lincoln. It misses but Lincoln latches on to the rope when he nearly loses his grip. He hoists his shield to protect his head.

However, the Wilkes grabs the rope and attempts to pull it out.

Lincoln is trembled at his strategy. With no other option, he aims for the beast's chest with a stab from his mighty sword, sending out a battle cry at the top of his heart.

And plunge! Lincoln stabs the Wilkes.

"ROARRRRRRRRRRR!" He goes, keeping a tight grip on rope.

He looks towards the diminutive hero. His anger boils around his skin. "You will pay for this."

It is a victory for Lincoln.

However, as he falls back to the ground, his hand latched on the rope causes a crack from the light above. The sky shakes. And soon, the hollow realm crumbles at his sight. Stones and rubble powder to the ground. And the ground collapses.

Lincoln tries to reach for the rope. But it is severely cut as it drops to the ground. He has finally lost hope.

"No, no, no, no, no! Please no! No please! I want to see my family! Please!"

A piece of the sky suddenly falls towards him, knocking him out. Sooner, his realm is no more. Every attempt for this warrior to rise and fight back, it is no more.

No more.


	13. Chapter 13

The next day, Lisa knocks on the door to Lori and Leni's room. The two are nestled in their beds, unable to cope the disappointment from yesterday. Leni buries her face to the confines of her mattress while Lori browses through a book about concussion and its mental effects. "Siblings, I need to reveal something to you."

"If it is some kind of mind-boggling scientific discovery, maybe later Lisa when you literally send this to experts," Lori replies uncharacteristically.

"No. It's about Lincoln!"

With that, Lori's attention spikes. "Spill the beans."

* * *

After Lisa does so, she gathers the rest of the sisters to explain her findings in the hospital. She reveals to them about their secret treatment on Lincoln, to how they bring other doctors to examine his rapidly growing intelligence, and to his subsequent change of personality, based on her stray observations. Lisa pours it all with deep concern, even though her siblings might be jarred by her inclusion of technical jargon. "And voila, there you go. I may not deem this as ethical, but unorthodox mental rehabilitation without the consent of the patient's kin is borderline under criminal prosecution. This must be further investigated until it is too late to catch a glance on our dearly beloved brethren who is deeply suffering in the confines of his limbo consciousness."

But Lisa's siblings are just deeply wide-eyed at her sudden highfalutin words.

"Okay, for those who haven't got the gist, the hospital is doing something wrong with Lincoln."

Immediately, the sisters spark an uproar.

Lori tries to calm everyone down. "Okay! Guys! Literally stop all of this! STOP!"

Just as she shouted, her sisters lower down their voice.

The elder sister then expresses, "Thank you. Look. Personally, I might believe Lisa here, even though I may not literally believe all of them are true. But we know there's something fishy going on in that hospital when they don't want us to see our brother."

"So let's use it as a basis for accusation and smite their rear-ends!" Lynn suggests aggressively, to which her siblings agree.

"No, let's not resort to that right away, including violence," Lori replies. "The only thing for that to happen is use credible evidence to formulate a case. And so far, we just have Lisa's observation to do the trick?"

"How can we find evidence, dude?" Luna asks.

Lola then springs up and throws her own plan, "How about this? I heard from mommy and daddy that the hospital will soon release Lincoln for a short period of time until they bring him back. So Lisa, how about you plant a secret microphone and camera like you always do and then we can gather evidence against them?"

"You might have a point…" Lisa surmises.

But Lori tries to intervene, "Guys, let's not get over ourselves too much."

However, Lola's demeanor overshadows Lori's opposing attitude. "Come on guys! Let's gather some dirt over the hospital!"

"YEAH!"

The rest are cooperative, but Lori, being now the more composed of the bunch, holds her head down in shame.

Luan randomly quips to her, "Ironic since we're gonna give the truth serum to them. Hehehe. Get it?"

Lori then walks out despondently.

"Hey, where you going?"

"Just somewhere literally not here. Like somewhere else."

"You don't have to be grouchy about it. We just want to see Lincoln."

"I do too. But there's a better way."

"Like what?"

From that point on, Lori has no other words to say. Though she tries to act composed, she is fairly uncertain. "I don't know."

With that, she walks out of the house, with Luan following her.

* * *

The next day, at the hospital, Lincoln is conducting his daily physical checkup. Dr. Wong guides him to the weighing scale, to the rehabilitation gymnasium and to the desk to record their latest findings. After that, he settles back to his room for a round of oats, fruit tidbits and a daily dose of History Channel surfing.

"How are we doing, Lincoln?" Dr. Wong asks as she returns to him.

"Very pleasant. Thank you for asking," Lincoln replies. "You know I commend the kiwis that are being served in this institute. Do you know that kiwis contain a Vitamin A component called lutein zeaxanthin, which is still debatable if it enhances vision."

"That's real…pleasant to hear, Lincoln."

"So, what will be doing today, Dr. Wong?"

"Well, today, you will still undergo observation. The hospital won't be doing tests until Dr. Benedict returns tomorrow night. And speaking of tomorrow, we allowed that your sisters visit you once more and take you around?"

Just bringing the thoughts about his "assumed" sisters raises questions and doubts for Lincoln. "My sisters? You mean biological sisters?"

"Yes, Lincoln. Your real sisters. They'll be returning. Isn't that great?"

"Yeah…I guess. I mean they're annoying. But I don't know if they are really my sisters. Or that I have sisters. Or if I really belong to a family of sisters."

Dr. Wong fixes up Lincoln as she continues to bring his sisters to the spotlight. "You do, Lincoln. You have sisters. You have a family. You have a home."

"Well, if I can retrieve some photographic memory of such an occurrence. Or if my lateral hypothalamus would immediately react to such preconceived notions."

"Lincoln, it will be alright. I know with you, losing memory after something extraordinary happened, it will be hard to recall stuff. But we can work on this."

"But kind of feeling something else. Like my present anatomy is what I sense is my true identity."

"What do you think it is?"

Lincoln wants to share his thoughts about his own perception of family. But he is nervous to do so, since some internal emotion holds back this certain notion: that he sees Dr. Wong and the hospital more as home than his own home. It is normal for patients to feel that. But it is certainly an emotional conflict that will soon manifest itself. "I don't know, mom."

Dr. Wong gasps from what she heard. "What did you just say?"

Lincoln then stutters in response, "I meant, doc. I don't know, doc. You know."

"Okay…" After that, Dr. Wong slowly leaves the ICU unit, stunned at that finding.

She retreats to the nurse's station where she places Lincoln's data on top of her desk. She shares her findings to her closest colleague, Nurse Ignacio, an African-American and half-Puerto Rican caretaker to the neurology unit. "Got Loud's data in place. Can you collate that with the rest, if you will?"

"Sure," she replies. "So, how was Lincoln?"

"Oh you know, recovering. He is a sweet boy. Well, besides the bookworm he never was."

"I suppose he is."

"His never actually told me that he was real comic book fan."

"You know, one time, on their first visit, they were bringing this box load of comics. The guards question them. And they were allowed otherwise."

"Oh yes, speaking of his sisters, I think there's one concern I have from Lincoln."

"What would that might be?"

"I think Lincoln sees me as a mother figure."

"Probably getting the gist of hypothalamic activity."

"No. Not that. I mean he actually perceives me as a mother. A guardian. Like he has an attachment to me like a real child."

"How would you describe your interactions with him?"

"Just casual. I would assist him, strike a connection so there's that trust when we conduct checkups for him. But it kind of gets in the way."

"What is?"

Ultimately, Dr. Wong confesses, "I feel the same way. Like he is my actual child."

Concerned, Nurse Ignacio looks out for anyone to hear. When their area is in casual terms, she drags Dr. Wong to the records storage room and confronts her about the situation. "Are you insane, doc? Where's the doctor-patient confidentiality?"

"I am sorry. I am deeply sorry. I try my best to keep professional in front of me. But he is reacting emotionally. Sorry. This really goes beyond ethics."

"It really goes beyond, doc. Now listen, we cannot escalate this further to the boy's family. So, I suggest you keep it low profile till we resolve this."

"Look Ignacio, I've dealt with patients with trauma disorders. And it is vital to strike a connection with the patient to allow procedures to happen."

"Oh you are now saying that this is similar to that?"

"No. I am saying that Lincoln needs that cognitive balance aside from the hospital's procedure to boost his intelligence."

"Yeah, I definitely see an emotional doc right here."

At that point, Dr. Wong feels a little regret in her, holding her tears back.

Nurse Ignacio then taps her shoulder in comfort, which makes Dr. Wong lean her face to her hand. "Sorry doc for bringing this much pressure. Just trying to say that we need to make certain smart options."

"Yes. I know," Dr. Wong tearfully says.

Later on, the neurologist moves on to other patients, which makes Lincoln concerned.

* * *

Meanwhile, as the sisters prepare their plan for tomorrow's visit, Lori, who was soon accompanied by Luan, drops by at Audrey's house to meet her.

"Is this her house?" Luan asks.

"Yes. Literally. Just ignore the exterior," Lori notes.

"What you got from her so far?"

"Not much."

"Not much?"

"Well, she is…overwhelmed that I need to at least have that friendship with her to make her feel comfortable with telling what happened."

"So, is that why you kept tagging her along with us?"

"Any problem with that?"

"What? No. By means no. All I am saying if you want her to stick around, she would at least reveal something to us."

"Well, with mom and dad's insurance still hanging, we have time to work on her."

Speaking of Audrey, she appears them from behind. "Lori?"

The two turn their heads and greet her.

"Audrey, hey, how's it going? I thought you were still inside the house."

"My…he sent me out to buy." She slurs her words there. She is aware that the items that her stepfather told her to buy will induce harm to her. Thus explains the mumbles. "Sorry." She then hurriedly enters back to the house.

"Wait." Lori then grabs her by the hand when she sees a striking revelation: bruises on her arm. She turns to the left arm to see similar bruises. "Did he?"

"I'm scared," she mutters tearfully.

Lori and Luan look to each other on what drastic measures should be done for Audrey.


	14. Chapter 14

On the very next day, the Louds seize their chance to bond with Lincoln. They have their itinerary and schedule up ahead, which of course will alter, since they are the Louds. But for that very day, the whole family (excluding Lori) awaits to see their son with them, even for a short amount of time.

As for Lincoln, he is rather nervous about encountering his family again, after the mishaps they had done previously. "Dr. Wong, not sure about that family again," he shares to her while he is changing to his sweat gear.

"But Lincoln, they miss you so much. I think you should give them a chance," Dr. Wong pleads to him.

"Well, nothing wrong with another chance," Lincoln replies. "Unless they abuse that chance."

"Don't be like that. Come on." Dr. Wong then leads Lincoln out of his ICU, assisting him on the way out until they reach the lobby. Before he leaves her, the 11-year-old patient embraces his motherly figure.

* * *

Finally, after days of waiting, the whole family catches a glimpse of their son. "LINCOLN!"

Immediately, they welcome him with open arms. They could have never asked for a better day to see their beloved son and brother.

However, Lincoln is less welcome with their visit. "Thank you…family…" He can almost feel the tightness of their embrace.

Rita then tells him, "Okay Lincoln, we have entire day for you. So, where do you wanna go? Movies? Theme park?"

"Play hockey?" Lynn suggests.

"Go to the mall?!" Leni follows.

"How about the petting zoo?!" Lana and Lola exclaim.

However, none of their suggestions are of Lincoln's current preference. So, he gives his own suggestion, "Maybe the planetarium?" When he says, his family is almost baffled at his choice. "We do have a planetarium in this city right? I searched in the Internet."

"Yeah…we have," Lisa answers awkwardly.

Thus, even with reservations on his choice, the family drives to the Royal Woods Planetarium, where all sorts of astronomical exhibits are displayed. Each of the family members disperses to the neat displays: Leni and Luan take pictures; Luna, Lucy and Lola check out the lights-and-sounds display; Lynn and Lana try the box challenge display and the NASA astronaut training experience (ATX); and Lynn Sr. and Rita ride on the space shuttle flight simulator.

And Lincoln meanwhile glances upon a glass display of a lunar module. He is rather mesmerized with the piece of tin can hardware that astronauts formerly used to travel to space. He has read stories about space exploration. And seeing one apparatus in full view broadens his mindset, or rather takes away the true purpose of visiting the planetarium.

Lisa takes this opportunity to cross-examine Lincoln, "So, seemingly interested in the endeavors of space travel, I presume?"

"Just read a lot of books and articles about astronomy," Lincoln enunciates eloquently. "Hopefully, in any opportune moment in this life, I may join the space program and commandeer a space shuttle exploration."

Lisa is astounded at Lincoln's sudden (and serious) interest in astronomy and space travel. Granted, it is a childhood dream. And she knew this is a possibility, given he is rehabilitated through procuring scientific knowledge. But it is still unbelievable that she feels that Lincoln is almost unrecognizable.

"How about you…Linda? Am I right? Linda?"

But the 4-year-old genius remains astounded and speechless.

"Well Linda, want to check out the Moon rock samples?" Lincoln asks. He then notices Lisa's frozen expression. "Linda?" When his calls did not work, he snaps in front of her face, which snaps her back to reality.

"Ughh…that's a blistering form of zoning out," Lisa utters.

"Linda, are you fine? Should I call your parents?"

"No! Nothing. I am just adequately present. Let's just proceed to the Moon rock samples." With that, a polite Lincoln leads the way, but not before Lisa corrects him, "And it's Lisa."

* * *

Meanwhile, Luna, Lucy and Lana line up for the astronaut training experience simulator, as Lynn is still in her ninth time of trying the simulator ride.

Luna notices Lincoln hanging out with Lisa and bears some doubts about her brother. "Dudettes, if Lisa is right about the docs making Lincoln insane in the membrane, how can we find evidence?"

"You heard Lisa's plan," Lana replies. "We open up to Lincoln, he opens up to us, then when we hear some buzzwords that instantly means trouble, then we uncover the bad stuff they did."

"How do we suppose to let Lincoln engage with us?" Lucy asks. "He is too…wordy…that he thinks we are not worthy." The 8-year-old then evokes a melancholic tone that Luna and Lana notices to be somewhat different from the normally despondent Lucy.

Luna consoles her, "Dudette, don't sweat it. It's not too late to bring back Lincoln. His head may have been knocked out, but his memories haven't yet been tossed away. Look up."

At that right timing, Lynn tosses lunch over the girls, just as she finally felt dizzy from the multiple times of spinning.

"Yeah, tossed that one," Luna utters.

* * *

Later on, Lincoln wanders around the planetarium by himself, where in a series of events, he bumps into one or more of his sisters.

Leni and Luan notice him. "Hey Lincoln!"

"Hey…" Lincoln responds gawkily.

"Come join us!" Leni invites him for a selfie.

"Not really adequate into self-photography."

"Come on, Lincoln!"

"Yeah, you wouldn't to picture yourself left out," Luan tells him.

"Well…" with that, Lincoln reluctantly joins Leni and Luan in the picture.

After that, Lynn and Lana spot Lincoln as they walk to the flight simulator ride.

"Hey Lincoln! Join us!" Lynn invites him.

"Inside that contraption?"

"Come on, Lincoln! Let's not spoil the time," Lana coaxes him.

He is easily persuaded by Lana's insistence to join them in the space shuttle simulator. The ride goes like a 7D ride found in malls. While Lynn and Lana are enjoying the wild ride, Lincoln is more focused on the physics of the ride.

After the ride, the three walk out satisfied.

"That was fun!" Lana expresses. "Ain't it?"

"Yeah, there are some faults in the accuracy. But for patrons, it is an adequate ride," Lincoln shares, which bewilders Lynn and Lana. "How about we try that optical illusions exhibit? That sounds very interesting from the books. Would you like to join?"

Lynn and Lana are kind of perturbed of Lincoln's sudden interest on a field he is not likely associated with. They expect something more of their level.

"You sure about that?" Lynn asks.

"Yes, why not?" Lincoln replies. "I am especially acquainted with visual trickery and op art."

Nonetheless, the girls follow suit, with reservations.

After that, Luna and Lola stumble upon their brother on the way to a display of astronaut suits.

"Hey Lincoln, dude!" Luna calls him.

"Okay Joan Jett, don't call me dude, first. It is a kind of lexicon that does not apply to my current identity," Lincoln eloquently says.

"Sheesh, you can say it without sounding deep," Luna reacts.

"Why do you act so posh all of a sudden?" Lola asks.

"It is the schematics of advanced vocabulary and academic reasoning. I have been trained by two specialists who also had a degree in education. Thus, this achievement."

Needless to say, the two are rather uncomfortable with Lincoln's newly established speech pattern. That could almost be rerouted to Lisa but it is now applied by their brother.

Luna could only utter, "Right…"

"Well, I heard of this audio-visual presentation that they are doing in the film room."

"Film room? You mean movie?" Lola asks happily.

"Indeed. So, I wish I could extend the invitation. But since you have presented a rather averse attitude towards…"

But Luna interrupts him, "We'll take it bro! Three of us in a movie?!"

"This will be fun!" Lola exclaims.

But as they enter the film room, surely enough, the viewing experience is anything but fun. The film featured is a lengthy documentary about the Apollo 11 landings, which feature a lot of technical jargon. Luna easily falls asleep. Lola is rather disappointed. Yet, Lincoln is so invested.

"Just great! Can we get to the cool part?!" Lola complains before she suddenly notices Lincoln's keen interest. This adds to her trouble of buying Lincoln as a science enthusiast, or more deeply, not recognizing her real brother from what he is now.

* * *

After their trip to the planetarium, the family settles for lunch at Gus' Games N' Grub. With this detour, the sisters would hopefully cause Lincoln to reminisce some tidbits in his life that occurred in the pizza place.

However, while he goes to the bathroom, they discuss to themselves.

"Okay people, we gotta have progress on this one," Lynn tells them. "We blew it back there."

Lola agrees. "Yeah, Lincoln goes all 'Lisa' with his 'so posh vocabulary' and his nerding for science. It sounds too lame from him."

"Are you saying that having advanced vocabulary and expansive knowledge in science is lame?" Lisa asks her interrogatively.

"No offense, Lise," Lola clears it up to her. "There are your stuff, not Lincoln's."

"He keeps saying that he has been 'taught by specialists'. Whatever that means," Lana shares with overall concern.

"Maybe that he is special. Hahaha. Get it?" Luan quips in, to Lana's chagrin. Though, she immediately switched to a serious tone. "But let's be real. Specialists? – It's a red flag, guys."

"We need to let him spill the beans of what those doctors do to him in the hospital. They should have not treated him this way," Luna speaks with conviction.

"So, we will not treat him jelly beans?" Leni wonders. But like Luan, she becomes serious, "But you're right. I agree…whatever you said."

It is at this time that Lincoln walks back to their table. "Greetings again, likable feminine specimens, has our food order been served?"

The sisters cannot help but question Lincoln's out-of-character speech pattern.

"Not yet Lincoln," Luna replies, not before mouthing to her sisters: 'Something wrong with him!' "Come sit with us."

"Thank you." After Lincoln takes a seat, he cannot help but share his experience. "You know, on transferring from an astronomical institute, the transition to a local fast food establishment is not my preference. But the bathroom does feel exquisite in first use. I kind of adored the scent that can be traced from chamomile and aerosol in the form of lemon scent. Or citrus limon."

"Right…" Lynn Jr. replies awkwardly, just as the waiter serves their first round of pasta. "So Lincoln, tell us. Tell us of your times…"

"My times? Wherein specifically?"

"You know, out of the bed," Lola clarifies to him. "How was rehab?"

"LOLA!" her sisters grumble to her.

Nevertheless, Lincoln feels expressive to share. "Rehab? You mean rehabilitation? Indeed, it is intriguing. Challenging at first. But when you go through the initial trials of concussion and head trauma, my doctors say it is possible to recover."

"Speaking of, how are your doctors treating you?" Lucy asks.

"They are brilliant. They have been very supportive and understanding. Not only they help in rehabilitation, but they taught me a lot in science and history and mathematics. They say it is essential to study the retrograde effects of my concussion."

Just as Lincoln exposits some details of his amnesia, Lynn nudges to Luan to secretly record this interrogation. They realize this as supportive elements in formulating a case against the hospital for inadvertently redefining Lincoln.

"What kind of stuff they want you to undergo?" Lynn asks.

"Well, physical, psychological checkups daily. And…" Lincoln suddenly realizes the interrogative tone from the sisters. "Hold on. Why are you asking me this?"

"You know, curious," Lana justifies.

"Yet some details are confidential. I can't share everything to you."

Abruptly, the waiter serves a bowl of salad to the table.

"And this must be mine." Lincoln then chows on the salad.

"Aww, he likes salad," Leni whimpers. "Bummer."

Lynn then whispers to Luna, "We got a little cornered there. We need to make it so covert to bring back Lincoln into Stink-oln."

At this point, the sisters are more determined to dissect their only brother's recovery.


	15. Chapter 15

While the family is busy bonding with Lincoln, Lori takes Audrey to school to testify before the school board, which includes the principal, her homeroom teacher and the superintendent. The police recently finished the report about Lincoln's accident. It just needs verification from the ultimate witness to the case.

Audrey sees a chair and a table placed at the center. Her hands slightly twitch, nervous about giving her story. She holds Lori's hand to ease the tension.

"Hey, it's okay," Lori assures. "Just like what we discussed, just tell your story."

"It's just…it's too much to take. I don't know if I can make it to the next statement," Audrey stammers in fear.

"It's okay. You will be fine." She takes Audrey to her seat, and then sits down at the audience's seat. Only few advisers and one student are present for this hearing.

Ms. Johnson takes the lead, "Okay. Good morning, friends, constituents. We are here to listen to the testimony of Audrey Anne Giles, in accordance to the progressing case for the accident of Lincoln Loud that led to multiple injuries in the face, retrograde amnesia, severe concussion and post-trauma…"

However, her co-teacher slows her down.

Ms. Johnson does as such, "Okay, in respect, let us proceed. Audrey, your opening statement?"

Audrey hesitantly stands before the board. She never thinks of getting through a public case like this. So, her idea of this would always stem that the person at question is a criminal. She tries to mutter her words but she is still held back by her own fears, despite her numerous rehearsals with Lori. Speaking of, the Loud sister gestures her to do little breathing exercises before she say her statement. Audrey does so, consisting of calm inhales and exhales, the tapping of her left foot and moving her tongue from inside her mouth.

After 30 seconds, she is able to speak: "Good morning teachers and fellow advisers, I am but a simple student who wishes to finish school and succeed her dreams. The more you get to know me, the more you will understand. Now, I further understand how my presence impacts the lives of the people around me. For that, I want to hold myself accountable for anything that might affect such a person. I do not wish to trigger more trouble nor self-loathing; I wish to cooperate in this case, despite personal setbacks."

"Okay then," Principal Higgins utters, "Now Audrey, this is the part where you share your testimony. And we were affirmed of your background, thanks in part to Lori. Don't worry. Rest assured that everything is confidential, and will stay in this room alone. Now, you may speak. We'll give you time."

Having that room to breathe is a sigh of relief for Audrey. But that does not remedy her trauma on recalling that time Lincoln saved her life from taking her own. Guilt flows in her bloodstream. But she counters it with recalling Lori's assurances. Finally, she shares her testimony.

Audrey's POV

 _My stepfather does not like me. Ever since my parents died in a car crash, he took me in. He was not happy of the lawmen granting "custody" of me. He just only liked my mom. I was confused why mom would have another man when dad is still there. Dad had been caring. Though, he had few times with us. I felt confused why my parents were that way._

 _I did not have a choice. He told me to keep doing the chores with him and to make myself useful. I did everything. I got scared that if I don't, he will hate me. I tried everything, like everything. But he is still not happy._

 _That night before the accident, my stepfather told me to do a simple favor to him. I never liked it. But he dreamed of it to happen. He slapped me for being a failure._

" _What I did wrong?" I kept asking myself. I don't know what was wrong. He never told me what was. So, I guess everything I did was wrong._

 _I never wanted to take that burden. I had to carry it at school, especially if that is the only person you'll have to deal with._

 _There was a project that morning. Everybody have to form pairs. We were odd numbered at class, so I was the odd one out. I got paired with the cool girls. So that is cool. Only they complete ignored me. They think I was invisible. I got so many ideas but they just ignore me._

 _I ask to myself: "Is there something wrong with me?"_

 _There are no other answers to that question but "YES, there is."_

 _I had no one with me to help me. I could not take the pain. So I want to end everything._

 _So, in a rainy day, I saw the opportunity when a black car comes in full speed towards the street. I just crossed it and stood there for a moment. I want to end everything now. Nobody wants me. Nobody is there to tell me what is going on. Nobody loves me._

 _But Lincoln Loud did. He pushed me to the other lane that I tripped to the ground when the car hit him. I didn't hear anything else but broken glass, and his head hitting the glass. I couldn't even imagine how it would look like._

 _The crossing guard took me in. People start to flock around me. They kept asking, "Are you hurt?"_

 _I just thought to myself, "Why did I miss the chance of ending everything?" But importantly, "Why Lincoln did save my life?"_

 _I never knew him until then. He just simply pushed me out of the way. And he took a hit to the car that shattered the glass and knocked him out. People say he is a good friend._

 _I thought he was dead. But thank goodness he's not._

 _How could I repay the toll that was caused on him?_

End of Audrey's POV

Audrey gives her final words, "Principal Higgins, Ms. Johnson and the rest, I put myself responsible for Lincoln's case." Little tears slowly run from her eyes. She wishes to break down. But she firmly holds her emotions back to testify solidly to her teachers and advisers.

Ms. Johnson assures her, "Audrey, we reassure you that you have no fault on this. It is never your fault. We just need your testimony to solidify this case."

Principal Higgins adds, "We as a school are also accountable since this took place in school grounds. And we wish to make things clear. You claimed that the black car was at full speed, is it that right?"

"Yes, sir?" she answers.

"Good. This is great defense. We are proud of your cooperation, Audrey. We'll report back to you and Lori once we filed the case. Dismissed."

With that, the board members disperse, and Lori fetches Audrey out of the guidance room.

"What's going to happen now?" Audrey asks.

"The school will submit your testimony to the police. They are planning to charge the car driver with reckless impudence," Lori replies.

"What does that mean?"

"I don't know."

"So…what now?"

"Let's have cookies back in my place."

* * *

But back in the Loud house, the day after their bond with Lincoln, Lisa leads her sisters in filing a case against the hospital for the "secret schemes" on rehabilitating their only brother. The ground on which the case stands holds for the official custody of Lincoln.

Leni lines up photos on a chart that tracks Lincoln's alteration of character from the time he undertook the rehabilitation. Luna sorts the audio obtained from conversations with Lincoln. Luan and Lucy compose a complaint that sums up the charge against the hospital. Lynn takes in calls from friends and peers to support their case. Lola and Lana compile the case files and evidence. And Lily simply cheers them on.

On pretext, it may seem absurd to accuse the hospital of conducting the proper rehabilitation measures, even though results will vary from the patient. But the sisters have outgrown their patience that they resort to this scheme.

Once done, they show their case to their parents first.

"There! Read it! Deal with it!" Lola insists to them.

While Lynn Sr. browses through their 150-page file complaint, Rita addresses the obvious, "Kids, is this all about the hospital treating Lincoln?"

"YES!" they answer vehemently

"Girls, does not mean Lincoln has changed so much while in the hospital does not mean the hospital is doing it wrong. We are not sure of that."

"Oh trust us, mom. There's something shady behind those doors," Lynn attests.

"Yeah, like it's so shady it's dark that we can't see," Leni adds in such a philosophical statement. "Did I say it right?"

"Pretty so," Lynn replies.

"The point is, mom, shouldn't you be concerned that Lincoln barely recognizes himself?" Leni asks.

"Yeah, I mean he likes space! And science!" Lola grumbles. "I mean really?!"

"He does like space," Rita clarifies.

Lynn Sr. could not believe the intricate details that the sisters formulate for their case. "Wow, you have everything here. There's even the case how Lincoln's preference for steak changed from sirloin to veggie meat."

"Lynn!" his wife nudges him.

With that, he snaps back to his senses. "Right. Girls, even if we file this case, what good does this can do?"

"We can bring back Lincoln!" the sisters say collectively.

"Girls, it's not like we have another choice for Lincoln in his healing," Rita addresses.

"That's false, mother," Lisa declares. "I could restore Lincoln's memories prior to the accident." The rest are surprised to find out that Lisa invented a memory-restorer contraption.

"Dude, why didn't you say so in the first place?!" Luna addresses.

"I still have to perfect it," Lisa states. "Failure is default in inventing. However, I perfected it now."

They all gasp in relief.

"Great! When can we use it?" Luan asks.

"After several tests, I still need to check if the side effects of a second bridge are eliminated."

Even with that streak of hope, they groan in dismay.

Rita then goes back to the actual discussion on the table. "Look girls, let's be patient now. And we can assure that Lincoln will get back to us…"

Abruptly, Lynn Sr. asks, "Hey, who's this 'Dr. Wong'?"

"Lincoln's nurse," Lana answers. "Lincoln kept mentioning her name when we went to this garden exhibit at the mall. He kept telling about Dr. Wong. Dr. Wong is this. Dr. Wong is that…"

"And we saw Lincoln hugging her!" Lola adds.

"We have to confront this, mom, dad," Leni resolves. "Don't you want Lincoln safe?"

Lynn Sr. and Rita then look upon themselves what to do next on their kids' strangely credible complaint against the hospital. They do not want to doubt the hospital that treated their child, but they want to ensure that their treatment to his PTSD and amnesia is credible. They leave this concern hanging off balance until their decision by the end of the day.

* * *

But back at the hospital, after doing the routine physical tests, Lincoln rests on his bed, waiting for Dr. Wong with solving a Rubik's cube.

Sure enough, the nurse enters his room after filing his physical test results. "How are you doing, Lincoln?"

"Solving. And solving. And solving." After more twists and turns, he finally solves the cube. "There we go. Now I need to solve that riddle."

"Great you're having progress," she replies. "Guess what Lincoln? In a few days, you are free."

"You mean out of the hospital?"

"Yes. Isn't that great?"

"Yeah…" Lincoln certainly has doubts about adapting a life out of the hospital.

"Something wrong?"

"It's just I don't know what it's like living out there."

"Your family can help you."

"Yes, I know. You are helping me."

Dr. Wong is utterly speechless on his thoughts. "Lincoln…I…"

But before she speaks out, he embraces her. In turn, she embraces him. Lincoln finally finds the mother figure in Dr. Wong.

But it is uncertain how will this go.


	16. Chapter 16

Won over by their research and grown by their concern of Lincoln, Lynn Sr. and Rita immediately visit the local police precinct to file against the Royal Woods General on cases of abuse of patient confidentiality. They file their case to the help desk of the local police station. The lady constable stationed there grows suspicious about the case, but she accepts in anyway and reports the Loud within 2-3 days' time of the development on their case.

"You had another case?" she asks.

"Yes ma'am," Lynn Sr. replies.

"Most definitely, just to question the hospital that's treating our son, since they have been secretive to us lately," Rita adds.

When she finishes filing the paperwork, the constable presents the folks with a stub. "We'll try to get back to you as soon as possible."

After that, they return to the van where their daughters are anxiously waiting for them.

"So?" Lola asks, as her folks get in the front seats.

"We'll go back. They'll give us a heads-up soon," Rita replies.

But the sisters groan in such a slow development.

"Why can't we get anything sooner done?!" Lynn Jr. complains.

Thus, Lynn Sr. enforces to them, "Junior, I am worried about Lincoln as much as you are. But let the cops do their job and just hope for the best!"

But the 13-year-old athlete still refuses to accept the slow procedural to complain about the hospital's case, making her slam her back in stubbornness.

Like that, the family heads back home as the sky turns bleak and drizzle falls.

* * *

Meanwhile, Lori and Audrey arrive at the Loud house via bus. The former discovers the door is still locked. "Vanzilla is not here. The family must have gone out."

"Don't you have the keys to the front door or a spare?" Audrey asks.

"I left it inside," she answers. "I thought they would be inside for the whole day."

"What do we do now?"

For Plan B, Lori takes Audrey to a nearby coffee shop for some chocolate chip cookies and a mug of cocoa. They watch the rain gradually get stronger. They breathe in the atmosphere that is filled with coffee-sipping millennials and jazz music.

"I always love it here. One of the hiding places I go to when the house is too chaotic," Lori shares.

"That's great," Audrey reacts blankly.

"How about you? What were the places you like to go to when things get chaotic?" the pre-college teen asks. "I mean if you are comfortable to share."

"It's fine. I just hide under my bed," Audrey answers. "But if you are referring to a place outside, it's mostly Burpin' Burger."

"That's nice."

"I like their pineapple burgers there."

"Lana loves all the burgers there."

"She must be a burger lover."

"Well…but she loves it there. That is where she met her idol."

"That's nice."

Lori gives a slight chuckle. "You know, there are a lot of joints here, I mean not the joints the adults would make a joke about, I mean there are literal joints, places you could find here and make it as your comfort place. And simply have fun as friends. Like, there's this café that had their own cubicles where groups of people can reserve spots. But the best part of it is that they serve boardgames. I mean fun boardgames like scrabble, chess, Chinese checker, Monopoly, Clue, almost everything is there. It was just fun when it was just me and Carol Pingrey. She was good at chess. That was a real shocker." She hopes in that way, Audrey can react to her story and interact more. But she remains in her timid posture.

Nonetheless, Audrey replies, "I like boardgames too. Hope it doesn't sound awkward."

"No, it's not. What is your favorite?"

"Risk."

Lori just nods her head, never knowing what that boardgame is. "Okay?"

"You know, Risk. It's a battle strategy game where you play different nations and try to conquer each other." Audrey lets out a little laughter as she explains the game to a speechless Lori. "I mostly play it by myself. I mean other kids would play with me. Kids who know the game."

"Well, that's great." Lori straightly reacts. "At least I know one of your interests."

"Okay…"

"Look Audrey, don't get the wrong idea. I really want to help you. So it would if you could really open up to me. And don't worry about me or what I am feeling about you. The important thing is you share to people who care for you. You can literally count on me, right now. Anything."

"If it were that easy."

"It doesn't have to be hard."

"I mean I know it is not hard. I just don't feel it as easy. I've been so uptight to myself because the one person who should have cared for me was so uptight to me."

Lori then embraces her, wanting to comfort her as she recalls her stepfather's abuses. "It's okay. It's okay. Don't worry, we can do something about it. We can call up child protection if we must."

Even though Lori presents her with a formidable solution, Audrey replies, "No Lori, don't. Don't call up the authorities. No."

"What?! Why not?!"

Audrey tries to get through her words, even though her tears are holding her back. "I know he's abusive. But he's providing for my school, my lunch and my home. He disliked me for sure. But I saw there are times he was regretful about it. But I ignored them since my plight was louder than his. He just used me up till I lose my breath to make him happy. I know he's abusive. But the last thing I want to do is to be the one person he blames for putting him in jail."

Just by her explanation, Lori is stunned. Yet, she fully understands Audrey's side of the story.

"I don't like to condemn myself more. I want to get that over with."

Lori then gives room to breathe after that intriguing revelation. After a minute or so, she tells her, "I'm glad you shared this with me. Thank you Audrey."

Audrey then gives a small grin to her.

Suddenly, the café doors open hastily when a familiar man with bright skin, thick facial hair and a House-like accent enters the café. He approaches the waitress, "Hi, here for my reservation."

Lori overhears the man, realizing it to be Lincoln's official neurologist, Dr. Benedict. Along with Audrey, she soon confronts him, slamming his table with her right hand, "Dr. B, we need to talk."

"Lori Loud? You're here. I mean a pleasure to see you for so long," he replies in a stuttering manner.

"My family needs answers from you now!"

"Now, that's why I have been absent. I took a leave from overseeing Lincoln's rehabilitation. There are just intriguing findings we saw from him."

"Do those 'intriguing findings' include subverting initial memories from our brother to make new ones that kill those memories."

"Well, memories don't kill other memories. They just overlap until that little figment is left unused unless a stimulus triggers it to resurface. But in your brother's case, well new memories are core to his rehabilitation. And yet, they become new information for him, which is what retrograde amnesias do. The problem is that he acquiring new memories disallows him from recalling past memories since they not only cause trauma but are obscure for his cognition."

"So you are running away from this problem?"

"What? No. No, I'm not. I have other patients in the West Coast, you know? Plus, I thought it would be helpful that I search for an effective medicine that helps him recall past memories of you."

"Well, better hurry because my sisters are literally getting suspicious about his nursing being a nursing mother to Lincoln."

"Dr. Wong?"

"Yes, they observe her being too close to Lincoln."

"Oh. Well, Dr. Wong knows the accountability of that. That's not a medical problem, that's an ethical one, but depends on the grounds if Dr. Wong instigates it or not."

"So, you're not going to do something about it?"

"I can't. I am not authorized to interfere during my leave. However, I could present you something." Dr. Benedict then looks around the café to see of any onlookers. Taking this advantage, he tells them, "Meet me at my car later."

After Dr. Wong notices his client outside the window, he gets up from his seat to meet with him, leaving the two with questions of how the doctor will assist them. They just have that question hanging when they get back to their seat.

* * *

Back in the hospital, Lincoln and Dr. Wong spend their idle time with a game of chess in the cafeteria. The place is nearly empty, with patients and their nurses dispersed to different tables that are far apart from each other. Needless of the ambience, the two are enjoying each other's company as Lincoln gets the upper hand as the white pieces.

Suddenly, a man with a dark suit over his blue plaid button-up polo and trousers approaches the two. "Seems you two are having fun."

"Honey, what are you doing here?" Dr. Wong greets the man, with Lincoln assuming that he must a close relative. She then introduces him to Lincoln, "Oh Lincoln, this is my significant other, Darren. Darren, this is one of our patients, Lincoln Loud."

"How you doing there Lincoln?" Darren reaches his hand out to him.

Lincoln is unsure how to respond. But he basically follows Darren. "Hello there."

After the two introducing each other, Dr. Wong then brings up, "What are you doing here?"

"I just came if we can go for lunch," he sweetly reminds her.

"Oh right, in a while, honey. I'll just get my coat." Before she returns to the nurse's corner, she tells him. "Oh, why don't you two hang out first?"

As Dr. Wong leaves, Darren approaches Lincoln is needlessly playing with the pieces that he beat. "Seems you are a chess player?"

"I just learned chess as part of my recovery," Lincoln replies in a polite tone.

"I used to play chess when I was little," Darren shares. "But have always been a checkers player."

"Never played checkers before."

"Do you want?"

"Us? To play checkers?"

"I can teach you."

"But we only have chess pieces."

"That is why I will teach you."

With that, Lincoln lends a happy gaze at Darren Wong. He never realizes at the course of their game that he would establish a bond with him.

Meanwhile, at the nurse's hatch, Dr. Wong checks her seat for her coat when her co-nurse calls her, "Doc, HR is calling you."

"HR? Why?"

She just gives a shrug to her shoulder. "They told you go there right away."

Nonetheless, Dr. Wong proceeds as such. When she arrives at the office, she sees her superiors in her department gathered around the chief physician of the hospital, holding some crucial papers.

"Dr. Lutman, is there anything wrong?" she asks her superior.

However, the main physician, Dr. Cochran, tells her, "Indeed, there is. These papers just arrive this morning." He then gives them to Dr. Wong, who looks through the piles of documents that are addressed to the hospital. But above those papers is a court summon that invites Dr. Wong and her colleagues for a court hearing of a case against the hospital, officially filed by the Louds.

"I don't understand," she says. Her face is filled with misperception when she receives such a case.

"Neither do we," Dr. Cochran replies. "You must explain yourself at court tomorrow. Present yourself and please explain the situation thoroughly. Otherwise, we have to suspend you."

"What?!"

"Now, don't be alarmed. You just explain yourself to the jury and ensure we win this case. That way, none of us will lose. Is that clear, Dr. Wong?"

But she is unable to answer, with her speech caught in the crossfire over a case of true concern.

With a story coming to a close, what now?


	17. Chapter 17

The day of the trial arrives.

Since the family demands the affairs to be minimal and private, there are only two media outlets that are covering the case.

The Louds arrive at court, all draped in formal black outfit in due professional respect. Audrey joins the family as well. Their lawyer, a Hispanic woman, meets up with Lynn Sr. to present their case to the judge, and they sit in the plaintiff's table.

On the other hand, the personnel representing the hospital, including the head physician, enter the courtroom and occupy the left side of the court. Dr. Wong finally turns up to court with her hospital lawyer and sits in the defendant's table.

The atmosphere is tense as the Loud girls glance on the doctor of the hour with despondency and disgust. Lola even gives an "I'll kill you" gesture to the doctor. Dr. Wong just ignores her act.

"Oh, we'll show her," Lola grunts.

"We'll get there, sis," Lana replies.

Finally, Lincoln with Darren Wong turns up to the court and sits on the left side of the court with him. The boy is visibly confused but aware what is taking place.

The presiding judge, along with the bailiff and the courtroom reporter, shows up to the courtroom. An overgrown lady at her late 40's yet the most respectable in the city, she is presented with honor and respect.

"All rise for Judge Swinton," the deputy announces to all, prompting the people to rise up.

At the sound of the gavel, the people take a seat. "At ease."

"Court is now in session for the hearing of the case of malpractices, committed by neurologist Dr. Patrice Anne Ngoc-Wong, based on the findings of Mr. Lynn Loud Sr. May the prosecutor's team present their case."

Lynn's lawyer then stands up to present their case, "Ladies and gentleman of the jury, a family long grieving for their beloved one's return had overseen some drastic effects that makes him unrecognizable to the family. They may look at it as a psychological effect on retrograde amnesia. But it could be the illegal practices that took place during his rehabilitation. The family came to present their case for answers of how and why this happened to their beloved Lincoln."

The judge then gives the floor to the defendants. "And defendants?"

The defense team's lawyer, a bald guy with glasses, stands in front to give their opening statement, "The medical practitioners at Royal Woods General Hospital strive to give the best service to save lives and restore those that need restoring. They have committed to it since day one. With the risk present to them, they save that trust from their beloved clients to keep saving lives as much as possible. The case with Mr. Lincoln Loud in his psychological rehabilitation of questioning the hospital's certified practices presents a misinterpretation of hospital protocol and miscommunication between the two parties. On behalf of the Dr. Wong and the professionals resided at Royal Woods General, we strive to do our best for our patients and the patients' families. Thus, we would like to discuss in a proper manner under the watchful eye of the American justice system."

"Okay, proceed with the case."

With that, Lynn's lawyer, Atty. Consuela Dias, assigns each of the Loud sisters, except for Lori, as witnesses for the case. Their statements are as follows:

Leni: "Lincoln is not acting like Lincoln. I gave him comics; he just wants to read almanacs. Why would he deny reading comics? He is not all maniac."

Luna: "Little dude is not the same. He had been telling so much about Dr. Wong, that nurse who always treated him. We got suspicious."

Luan: "It was no laughing business when he got so much into science. I mean it was bad enough when he denied us days early after his accident. But to embrace science more than our family? I find that fishy."

Lynn: "I've heard of reports and news about football players suffering same concussions like Lincoln had. At least they had their memory intact. Why not Lincoln?!"

Lucy: "Lincoln told us about his daily routine: healthy breakfast, exercise, physical examinations and rest. I get that. But there's something in between that revels in the darkest corners."

Lola: "You know, in the news, there's a lot of talk of doctors who do unlikely things that they try to hide from the public. You know how I know that? Because Lincoln keeps talking about Dr. Wong like she is the sky or something!"

Lana: "Lincoln is like questioning about us. Like he doesn't know us. Like even if he forgot about us, why would he consider us as weird people to hang out with? I don't get it."

Lisa: "I can attest that the prolonged period of rehabilitation might be for the reason that Lincoln's cognition might have gone off the rails that the neurology department had to prolong his stay, under the guise of shady findings that doctors can use as an excuse to conceal their malpractices."

The children's testimonies mostly revolve around their observations about the new Lincoln that they can use as accusations to Dr. Wong. The courtroom reporter steadfastly takes note each of their statements, which opens up holes against Dr. Wong.

It is now the defendant's team to present. "Let us give the floor to the defendant," the judge presides.

The hospital lawyer, Atty. John Sachs, presents his first witness: one of Wong's co-nurses Dr. Aileen Costa. "Dr. Costa, you have been colleagues with Dr. Wong for how long?"

"For about three years," she answers.

"Were you two in the same shift?"

"We are."

"Okay. So you get to witness her undergo Lincoln's daily routines, right?"

"I do."

"Does she do it accordingly?"

"Well, she was on schedule. She never skipped one routine, even though she is given full accountability to oversee Lincoln's rehab."

"But have you observed anything that goes beyond hospital ethics?"

At that point, Dr. Costa pauses. At first glance, most of the people find this as a dead end. But she is just recalling. She regains after six seconds of a pause. "Nothing as I saw. For patients that undergo rehab, especially with traumatic disorders, we do our best to be caring figures for them. I mean, regarding psychological means, there is no other way to do it but it to be surrogates."

"OBJECTION!" Lynn Sr. shouts.

But the judge tells him, "Order! Dr. Costa, please continue."

"We have to be caretakers, especially to kids suffering from PTSD. It is part of the treatment. I mean where else they would seek help? That's what nurses are for. To take care for the lives of our patients."

"Thank you Dr. Costa." Atty. Sachs then proceeds to the next witness who is another of Dr. Wong's co-nurses stationed in the neurology department.

* * *

Meanwhile, Lincoln is left wondering about the drama unfolding right before him. "I don't get it. Why would they accuse of Dr. Wong for this case? She just did her job."

"Not sure too," Darren Wong says. "What I know is that Annie did her best. She told me a lot about you. She didn't explicitly mention you, but she felt overjoyed to feel like a mother hen to that patient who was eager to learn. I quickly figured out it was you."

"I guess so. Don't like where this is going."

To ease his feelings, Darren compliments him. "Hey, you got some skills at checkers back there."

Lincoln simply smiles at him for that compliment.

* * *

But back on the trial case, Atty. Sachs gets through with all the witnesses he had, mostly consisting of Dr. Wong's trusted colleagues. Right now, the jury is divided with whom they side on. Both sides give credible testaments, strengthened by each of their lawyer's conviction.

The prosecutor's side takes the floor. Atty. Dias presides, "Your Honor, I would like to call in two more witnesses to the platform. Lori Loud…" When the attorney mentions her name, she walks to the witness' chair. "She has substantial evidence of malpractices done by practitioners like Dr. Wong. Ms. Loud, when was the first instance that the hospital administered another psychologist to oversee your brother Lincoln?"

"I think it was March 4th?" she answers.

"Did you know that Dr. Wong was assigned on the 2nd of March?"

"No, I don't."

"Did the hospital give your family updates about their findings on Lincoln?"

"They did it weekly. Every Saturday. But it was to my dad's email. But dad rarely checks his emails."

"Right on," Lynn Sr. utters to himself.

"But were you and your family given access to visit Lincoln?"

"At times they declined. I think it was upsetting to hinder that privilege."

"As you see, your Honor and the rest of the jury, this is a total violation of hospital-and-client confidentiality. The hospital reassigning another personnel without their knowledge."

"OBJECTION!" Atty. Sachs shouts.

"Let the prosecutors proceed," the Honorable Judge Swinton demands.

"As I was saying, this is one of the hospital's errors to disclose any substantial information to the patient's family. And the very reasoning is this." Atty. Dias then shows a manila envelope containing brief case files of four other patients suffering from the similar retrograde amnesia and undergoing the hospital's similar rehabilitation methods. These are the documents that Dr. Benedict showed to Lori and Audrey during their unexpected meeting at the café. The most notable finding is that all patients' rehabilitation created the same results as Lincoln's: obtaining newfound information and memories in a rapid cognitive rate that neurologists described as "unprecedented". This is the main reason why the hospital had to extend but enclose Lincoln's rehabilitation and why Dr. Benedict took a leave to cross-examine the patients. "Patient case files, disclosed by an anonymous source. They detail of how Lincoln's case was unpredictable that they have to hide it from his family."

"OBJECTION!" Atty. Sachs shouts. "The hospital is given the right to examine the patient to seek the immediate treatment that the patient needs!"

The Louds come to Atty. Dias' defense, but the lawyer remains silent after her defense.

The judge then orders everyone. "ORDER! ORDER IN THE COURT! Atty. Dias, please proceed!"

As soon as the noise dies down, Atty. Dias proceeds, "Let me go on with the next witness. The one to give the answers. Mr. Lincoln Loud…"

Just by the mention of his name brings gasps to nearly everyone in the court. Lincoln, on the other hand, senses the pressure beset to him by the judge. He is aware that he is required to attend the hearings since Atty. Dias actually sent a court summon to him prior. However, the hospital obliges him to do so. He is familiar of the justice system after jotting through books about the American government. But it never crosses his mind that he would experience a trial before his eyes, let alone a trial about him.

The 11-year-old amnesiac tries to find himself comfortable in the witness' chair, but the flat cushion does not help.

"Can I call you Mr. Loud? Or should I just call you Lincoln?"

"Just call me Lincoln, ma'am. That would be most respectable," he replies.

"Understood. Let us know if you need assistance. So, please answer in full detail: what was your daily routine in the hospital like?"

"Well, it started off with a health breakfast. It was essential to start the morning energy-gaining foods. They serve me oats or fruits or milk. Then they let me undergo warm-ups. After that, I undergo physical examination. They measured my body mass, my agility. Then, it was pretty much observation. Then they let me do whatever I want in the hospital, like watch my favorite documentaries and get access to the latest encyclopedia."

"Who was supervising your activities?"

"Dr. Wong."

Confirming this causes some hubbubs from the audience.

"Order please," the judge demands.

"How did Dr. Wong took care of you?"

"She was nurturing. She was compassionate about him. She helps me perceive more than just expansive knowledge in the sciences. She helped me cope, which I think is part of the job."

"And do you think her coping has gone too far?"

"I don't think so."

"We can say that your coping mechanism would involve participants to help obtain that coping mechanism. With participants, you need trust. And with trust, you need a relationship. So tell me, do you see a connection between you and Dr. Wong?"

"She cared to my needs. I shared what are my body's present needs. And I did have to share those to her. So most definitely a connection was established."

"But do you see it overwhelming? Something that influences your motor functions? Your perceptions? Your thinking…?"

Lincoln soon zones out from hearing the lawyer's rather vigorous interrogation. But then he looks upon the audience and glances upon Audrey. The memories of the accident kick in.

 _Flashback_

 _The rain falls on Royal Woods Elementary and Lincoln sees an innocent girl at the middle of the street. But as harmless as that picture looks, a car soon hurtles to her direction. The girl expects to get hit by the speeding car. But with compassion from his heart, Lincoln saves the girl by pushing her to the other side, letting him collide with the vehicle._

 _His head smashes to the windshield, breaking his skull and completely injuring his head. His body drops to the ground as rain falls endlessly on his face. The last thing he sees is the face of anxiety on a girl now identified as Audrey._

 _End of Flashback_

Lincoln tries to dodge the trauma internally. But the pressure mounted by the prosecutor's team and the entire case adds to the distress. It soon causes him to faint before the court.

"LINCOLN!"

* * *

And he dozes off…

And off…

Off…

Out of his control…

But soon…

His former self reaches out his hand to the light flickering above him.

But sooner…

Dr. Wong resuscitates him after rushing to the podium and doing CPR on him. "Lincoln, are you okay?" She then embraces him.

"I'm alright, doc," Lincoln says as he glances upon the crowd of onlookers, including Audrey. There has seemed to be a sting on his mind after seeing her. But he soon struggles to hold them down after feeling the maternal love that he felt from Dr. Wong.

With that, he stands up and sits back to the witness' chair. "Ladies and gentleman, I wish to speak on my behalf. This case is about doing the best for my recovery. And I know you can force it in all your means. But you're just burning bridges. I was a victim of trauma. But I want to stand up. And I wish all to do the same thing. Not by this, but by peace among differences."

"So, what do you request, Lincoln?" the judge asks.

"For the case to be dropped. And I will pick up who should have custody over me."

"I believe that is not of your jurisdiction," Atty. Dias elaborates.

"Well, it is either we all lost because I will have to bear this trauma throughout my lifetime. I do not ask this to be easy. I just want to peace from all so that I may have peace."

The court is then left in silence after Lincoln's soliloquy.

With no answer from each of the party, each of the side's lawyers is left unable to perceive the situation. Most especially is the Loud family, who are stirred by Lincoln's speech.

At the end of the day, a decision is settled that changed Lincoln's life forever.

 _To be continued…_


	18. Chapter 18

Out of the rubble comes the light. Though easily torn, it is not easily broken.

The mighty warrior Lincoln has emerged from the wreckage that the Wilkes and its ferocious army cast him to oblivion. He grasps on the rocky terrain, feeling a texture of hardboiled volcanic gravel. Dust falls to his face like ash from an erupting caldera. But as he lets his wander around his surroundings, he can only see a bleak atmosphere with the pale dark blue sky above him.

But what is striking from his terrain is that the rope that he fought for his entire life internally is still hanging from above. However, the glow is gone. It now dangles to the limitless sky as the wind blows its irrelevant use.

Lincoln simply breathes in the air that he may compare to soot or aerosol used in paints. But as he walks few paces forward, he suddenly steps on a heavy-duty, metallic substance. He picks it up – it was his shield, still intact and might.

He searches around the debris-filled ground for possible signs of his weapons. It takes him separate time intervals to search for his arsenal. A minute later, he retrieves his breastplate. Ten minutes later or more, he finds his helmet. And a half hour later, he locates his mighty sword.

Dusting off the fragments of soot from his equipment and his face, Lincoln wears the arsenal once more to his body and prepares his sword for the next instance that the Wilkes will manifest.

Panting…eyeing…encroaching, the little warrior lays his stance, waiting for the threat to appear. He can feel it trembling on his spine. He can sense it crawling on his skin. He can see it casting an ominous wrath on the air. But he is determined to slay the monster once more.

Sooner, the settled dust moves on a similar pattern. They form a circle around Lincoln, occupying the line space to form a force field around Lincoln. Likewise, they regroup by towering themselves over each other, creating a whirlwind of dust. They hiss like bats, indicating the doom they bring.

Lincoln tries to slay his sword on them. But the dust dodges it.

As soon all the fragments regroup, they form a towering spout that extends above but immediately morphs into a swarm of locusts that directs at Lincoln's positions.

But Lincoln immediately casts his shield against the attacking swarm. Powerful they may be, Lincoln keeps his stance. The swarm swerves out of his direction, and they soon form a cloud that grows in largeness. There becomes the monster that Lincoln longingly wanted to defeat.

There it appears with its four horns on its head, with sharp claws that can crush a mountain, with reptilian wings that soars straightly to its prey, with strident teeth that boasts the menace of the creature and with a hulking body that towers the tallest peaks of the earth. There, it stands high above Lincoln – the Wilkes, towering of its unparalleled malevolence.

Until Lincoln proves the monster wrong as he aims his sword to the monster.

"You still cannot quit, my little prey. The heavens crushed down before you. And you still huff a breath on this domain. My domain. What can you do about it, you brave little fiend? Let me give you the facts that I defeated you. And much of your loved ones took the toll…"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Lincoln bellows out of rage and aims for the beast. However, he disintegrates to nowhere but appears behind him to pound him on the face, collapsing Lincoln to the ground. He tries to get up, but the Wilkes steps on his chest.

"Look around you. You think there is hope for your return? You think there is hope when you don those silly equipment to make you think that you are powerful over me? You think there is hope that you can defeat me? No matter you do, I will always be there to strike you, and let you remember that day you made the biggest mistake of your life!"

Lincoln tries to release his way out of the Wilkes' clutches, to no avail. But on the top of his strength, he curtly remembers the very heart of his battles – his family. He simply drifts in peace.

He reminisces the numerous unforgettable moments he spent with his dear family. The fights, the quarrels, the misunderstandings, the troubles, the hijinks, the tears, the pains – but there are also the joys, the laughter, the fun, the experiences, the trips, the sharing, the blessings and the love. Lincoln is finally resolved that his family will always be there for him, even in the hardest and most impossible of times.

"They still love me."

"They don't love you."

"They do. They still love me."

"Well, if they love you, where are they now? Will they go through all these lengths just to find you? Where's your proof?"

"I don't need proof. They love me. They just have to show it again. But for me, I can show it now!"

Lincoln swiftly takes his sword and stabs the fully formed Wilkes on the abdomen. His weapon plunges to its flesh that it allows Lincoln to release himself from its grasp and flee out of the area.

Angered, the Wilkes disassembles back into the swarm and aims for Lincoln. Seeing this, Lincoln blocks it with his shield and slays the fragments from the air.

However, the monster regroups to the demonic form that it was previously and proceeds to intimidate Lincoln. "You cunning little fiend, you think you are so powerful to take me down? You will never take me down. I will still be around, striking you to the heart." Out of its arms, it draws a spear-like weapon and points it at Lincoln's head. "What can you do about it? What can your weapons do to me? You are nothing, especially if you don't have these." The Wilkes then shows Lincoln the memory orbs that he lost during his fall by the Wilkes' army.

The little warrior looks upon the glowing orbs that conceal the best memories that defined him as a person. Their poignant portrait shakes Lincoln into submission, but he struggles to remain strong against the wrath that the Wilkes might impose upon him.

"I can employ my powers over them and they will be left rotting in the dark. See Lincoln. I hold your destiny. What you will about it?"

Lincoln is given the choice to submit to the wrath of the Wilkes. Yet, he remembers one phrase that he keeps recalling to remind himself about love. He mouths that phrase, "I am loved more than I will ever know by someone who died to know me."

"No. That's not true," the Wilkes insists with its cunning voice.

But Lincoln repeats it, "I am loved more than I will ever know by someone who died to know me."

"No!"

"I am loved more than I will ever know by someone who died to know me."

"Stop it!"

"I am loved more than I will ever know by someone who died to know me!"

Because of Lincoln's conviction, fragments from the Wilkes' body starts to detach. "No! Stop it! That's not true!"

"I am loved more than I will ever know by someone who died to know me!"

"No! That's hypocrisy!"

"I am loved more than I will ever know by someone who died to know me! I am loved more than I will ever know by someone who died to know me! I am loved more than I will ever know by someone who died to know me!"

The more Lincoln repeats that phrase, the weaker the Wilkes gets to the point of collapsing to the ground on its helpless knees. "Stop it! THAT AIN'T TRUE!"

"I am loved more than I will ever know by someone who died to know me! And you know that, don't you? You are just deceiving me." With the power of his sword, he slays the Wilkes by the chest in one complete swathe.

However, this causes it to drop the orbs that store Lincoln's memories, shattering it to pieces. Yet, they manifest as wisps that soon surround Lincoln in harmony. They manifest in different colors in relation to how Lincoln picture those memories. Once formed and united, they are absorbed to his sword, granting him full power against the monster in one last draw.

At pain, the Wilkes makes one final strike by unleashing its army simultaneously. They now makes an imminent crush to the last soul of the true Lincoln Loud.

But with his faith secured, Lincoln points his sword towards them, shouting, "I AM LOVED!"

His battle cry unleashes a powerful army, manifested by his identity and his memories. The army comes at full radiance over the crumbling army of the Wilkes, defeating them in the likely manner as Gandalf's reserve army, securing victory over the Battle of Helm's Deep. In a blink of the eye, the light powers over the darkness, and the Wilkes is no more.

After a victory sealed, the rope soon restores its glow, lighting the way towards the top of the sky. His aim is resumed.

And once more the white spirit that lead him there appears in front of him. "My son, you have proven yourself worthy of taking down the demon that lurks you. You have expounded your faith in yourself. There are no other words to add to your courage, even as it takes time."

"So, does this mean I get to finish my quest?" Lincoln asks.

"Just never let go, son." The spirit shows him to the rope, to which Lincoln rushes to take the first grasp on it.

But before he climbs the rope, Lincoln asks the spirit, "He told he will return. Is that true?"

"Son, battles never end. But that does not mean they speak of defeat. When the Wilkes strikes again, you know what to do."

At that note, Lincoln takes his words by heart. "But what will I see at the top?"

"You will see a miracle. It will take a while. But you will know it is there."

After that, the spirit fades away to the air, and Lincoln starts to climb the rope.

It is a day's journey to climb every inch of the glowing rope. Sooner, the space below gets deeper as much as the sky above him. He nearly lets go but he immediately holds the rope firm.

He scales inch by inch, to the sky until he reaches the realm where the clouds take over. He keeps climbing and climbing, until he reaches a portal, where the rope ends. He points his swords towards it, where it immediately transports him back…

…into his 31-year-old body.


	19. Chapter 19

After nearly twenty years, Lincoln finally recovers his memories when he was an innocent, little 11-year-old. But he receives it in a disoriented fashion.

Right there, all the memories he has with his true family, most especially with his sisters, come back to him in one fall. But on his 31-year-old self, in a hotel room, bushed and groggy, shirtless, covered in a blanket and so much blown of restoring flashes of his something poignant.

Upon receiving those memories, he gasped aloud, which brings the attention of his companion in the room.

"Lincoln, is something wrong?" His companion peeks from the door and then emerges from it. She is with dark brown hair, bun up in a ponytail. She wears circular glasses. And her skin is of Eastern yet bright complexion. And she is only wrapped in a white bathrobe. She is Lincoln's wife.

She witnesses her newly married husband pant heavily upon a serious breakdown. "Lincoln, are you okay?"

Lincoln looks upon his wife in concern. "Oh Christine, I think I just remembered something."

"You remembered what?"

He keeps on breathing in, breathing out, trying to compose himself. He then utters, "I think I remembered my past, my childhood."

Before meeting him, Christine only knew of Lincoln as the child "who traded his real family for an adoptive family". She is a journalist who covered Lincoln's life story from an amnesiac to a world-renowned genius who was based on CERT and had invented the most powerful particle accelerator in history. He practically accounted his life story to her, from the new memories he gained after the trauma to the knowledge that expanded with science. In their dating years, he shared any memory he has with his adoptive family, but not his real family. Thus, this revelation also strikes her.

"What did you see?"

Lincoln huffs from his mouth to try to straighten his mind. He then recalls that certain tidbit wherein he handles the concerns of his sisters before he can catch up with the latest episode from ARGGH!, especially when the entire house went into a blackout. "It was in a house. I had ten sisters. Things went as planned. Then, there was this television program that I am somehow a fanatic. But I missed it. But I never missed the moment of bonding with those fellow kin, all…girls." The now-adult Lincoln recalls the time from the episode "Left in the Dark", one of his core memories.

Christine encourages him, "Go ahead. Tell me what you remembered now."

Lincoln then dives deeper to his mind, retrieving the past memories he had when he was an 11-year-old. They are somehow in pieces when he receives them in one package. But they gradually connect to each other, making Lincoln's past memories apparent.

This time, he recalls one time at their house when the children went into a wild treasure hunt. "There was this one time. One Saturday morning. I somehow retrieved an ancient map of unknown origin. That family suspects it must be of value. So, it's a wild goose chase." He retrieves one memory from the episode "It's a Loud, Loud, Loud, Loud House".

Suddenly, his phone rings, prompting Lincoln to answer it. " _Hello?...Yes…I'm on my way…Okay…Just set up the presentation. I'll be on my way down…Okay. Bye._ " After hanging up, he confirms, "Conference. I have to go."

As the then 31-year-old Lincoln dresses up, Christine expresses her thoughts about this sudden revelation. "Hey honey, not that I want to bother about your appointment, but shouldn't you assess this further? I mean it's a series of memories that were lost when you were young."

"I know C, but I can't make that excuse in front of the scientific community. We'll talk this later." Minutes later, Lincoln dons his suit and tie, and prepares his attaché case. Before he leaves, he confronts his wife, who now wears a concerned face for him. "Hey, I'm fine."

"I just think that there's more Lincoln in that head of yours," Christine replies, "I just thought it would be fun dissecting it."

Lincoln takes a chuckle out of it, hugging her in the process.

"You know, I never thought that you would actually be a 'brother' for a family…"

"You don't think I'm brother material?"

"Link, you shrugged off my brother and left him in Red Lobster while he is waiting for his ex who didn't arrive."

"I had my excuse for that time. And your brother was a jerk there."

Christine just reacts vehemently to be serious on this matter.

"I know. But duty calls." He then kisses her before he takes off.

But before he leaves, Christine brings up, "You know, you gave that excuse when you were late in our fifth date. I'm just saying there are other things out there more than science."

With that, Lincoln takes her words in face value and leaves.

Eventually, he arrives at a prestigious hotel to speak at a summit for the biosciences community. The subject of his talk revolves around the improving treatment against Alzheimer's disease – fittingly so. His speaking prowess is almost of a TEDTalks speaker.

"…And I would like to report a significant decline of victims once we let patients undergo this certified treatment." But in the middle of presenting a visual aid for that talking point, he suddenly mutters, "We solidly claim that if keep this number, we can…I love them…"

It is at this point that Lincoln recalls one core memory about confronting the Wilkes monster for the first time. It started out as a nightmare. But his sisters comforted him and slept on his side. He solemnly swore to the monster that nothing can separate him from his beloved sisters. He recalled the entire story of "Sympathy No. 1".

At the middle of speaking, he pauses to recall that memory. It is a bittersweet fragment from his childhood that he cannot help but relive its poignancy. The audience is perplexed on this feat. But Lincoln segues, "I love them. I knew them. That is why I have faith that we cannot only stick to this graphic alone. It will take time before we can create a legitimate treatment to Alzheimer's that is accessible to the public. But I assure that this labor, this research goes not only to the patients, but to our loved ones. Thank you."

The audience then gives him a round of applause, earning him a mostly positive reception.

After that talk, Lincoln runs to the crowd to find his wife. Even though he is demanded to be greeted by fellow scientists who praised his presentation, he wishes to stick to his instincts.

"Mr. Wong! Mr. Wong! Mr. Wong!" the crowd of scientist and press coverers chants to him.

But that does not stop Lincoln from locating his wife Christine near the punch bowl table.

"Christine!"

"Lincoln, why such a…"

Before she can finish, Lincoln kisses her. They take the sumptuous time to relieve their vows, right before Lincoln says, "It's all coming back. We gotta go!"

With that, Christine joyously agrees. But as the press races toward Lincoln, she tells them, "Mr. Wong will answer your questions soon. Just not now!"

The couple then gets to their escort car and drives off the hotel.

"Wow, that was a blast!" Lincoln remarks.

"Yeah," Christine agrees. "I can't believe it. It's all coming back?"

"Yeah! I can't believe it. They all look so real. It's so surreal." Lincoln takes his time to recollect the basic information he had from his lost childhood memories. "I had eleven sisters. I had a father and a mother. I had a best friend. And we lived in Michigan."

"Michigan? Do you think they are still there?"

"I don't know. We have to go to mom first. She might know what."

From Hanoi, Vietnam, the site of the conference, Lincoln and Christine fly to Seattle, Washington to visit Lincoln's adoptive mother. It takes them fourteen hours to get to Seattle, adding the stop at Incheon, South Korea for the connecting flight. Along the way, Lincoln writes down the information he retrieved from his memories on a notepad. His memory stimulated his brain to pile them up. Thus, Lincoln quickly writes the core memories of his childhood, the people he recalled that had a close relationship with him, and the events that lead to the loss of his memory. The latter is one point he has yet to confront.

Upon arriving in Seattle, they take a taxi to his adoptive parents' retirement home, resided on a secluded area overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

Lincoln knocks on the door, for his foster mother Patrice Anne Ngoc-Wong to answer. She has recently retired from writing inspirational books. After the trial, though the custody of Lincoln went to them, her doctoral license was revoked, and she was dismissed from the hospital. She got her eventual revival through a church ministry, which led her to write inspirational books, basically revolving on the mental and physical aspects. Her following resulted on the retirement home she and her husband Darren hoped for. There she is, wrinkled and bearing a cane. "Lincoln, Christine, happy to see you all of a sudden."

"Mom!" Lincoln embraces her mother. He then reveals everything. "Mom, it's all coming back. My memories, they came back."

When her adoptive son revealed that fact to her, mother Patrice takes them in for jasmine tea and cinnamon pastries. She finally exposes everything from that case, "Your family hoped that you recovered your memories from that…tragedy. But it was not easy for them to deal that they are irredeemable. But I think they were most devastated when they find your stupendous growth in new memory very overwhelming. I tried my best to nurse you but you grew so attached to me. Then, all things went at hand in your favor, just for your treatment to push through. So many experts look at you with potential, but it was at the cost of your old memories being put to dust."

"And my family?" Lincoln asks.

"Well…after the case, they moved out of Royal Woods. I never know where they moved. They simply discarded me." Patrice then takes one book out of her shelf and pulls out one photo showing Lincoln (still in a coma) with his family. "I tried to find them, so they can see you. But they went their own way. Here they are."

As Patrice shows the photo to him, Lincoln feels a twitching in his head and on his limbs. The trauma of that memory kicks in. He tries to shirk it in.

"LINCOLN!"

Immediately, mother Patrice and Christine comes to his aid. They hold his hands in full support.

"Lincoln, keep fighting. Just keep fighting. Your pain does not define you. Breathe it all i. Keep fighting," she tells her son comfortingly.

Grasping their hands, Lincoln tries to suppress the traumatic pain, taking in routine breathing. He keeps suppressing and suppressing until he takes the mantle of fighting against the trauma.

He recalls the words of the Spirit inside him, particularly about that "battles never end", but victory is assured. He holds his stance firm like a belt, keeps his chest mighty as a metal breastplate, shields any form of condemnation that came from the trauma, stretches his feet to stretch out his strength and position to flee to refuge, lets his head be sober-minded and extinguishes every fear and every hindrance like a swath from a sword. He never looks back at how he ended up with the trauma; he simply fights forward.

"Tell me if you are okay, sweetie," Christina tells him.

They let his head rest on Mother Patrice's lap as he succumbs to rest.

An hour passes by, and Lincoln wakes up rejuvenated.

His mother and his wife are in utter surprise.

He gains the confidence to look on the photo once more, without carrying the burden that brought him there. At a slow glance, he browses every face that he sees from the picture. From there, he pledges to find his family once again. And Lincoln's journey starts.


End file.
